‘I couldn’t have a garage but they say this shipping container is okay’

A FATHER-OF-FOUR who put a shipping container outside his home has been told he can keep it. 

Trevor Stephenson was forced to demolish a pre-fab garage outside his home, in Harmire Road, last year after Durham County Council told him it was harmful to the character of the area.

The 39-year-old responded by installing a green shipping container in its place which does not break any planning regulations.

Officials at the county council launched an investigation in the wake of its erection but found there was nothing they could do to stop it. Mr Stephenson said he was happy the dispute was over for now but added that the whole experience had been financially costly and frustrating.

He said: “I am angry really. Everything I put forward they refused – they have been awkward every step of the way. At one point I felt like it was a personal vendetta.”

The father-of-four initially built the pebble-dashed garage off the two bedroom bungalow in 2013 for extra storage space for bicycles and gardening equipment.

But planning officers stepped in, telling Mr Stephenson stuck out too much and was built on a boundary wall.

He appealed against the decision in June 2015 but the planning inspectorate turned him down and ordered him to demolish the extension.

Mr Stephenson said he had offered to move his garage one foot to fit in with regulations but planning officers had refused.

He added: “It’s pathetic really – the amount of man hours and woman hours wasted. It just needed a bit of common sense.

“I have lost quite a lot of money and an awful lot of time.

“I offered to move it to where the container is now but they said no – they changed the goalposts every time I mentioned something.”

Mr Stephenson was fined £180 in July 2016 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £20 and costs of £660 after being convicted of failing to comply with an enforcement notice. He finally took down the garage late last year but noticed if he put a shipping container two metres from his garden wall and bought one no higher than 2.5m it would not contravene planning rules.

The £1,000 green container is one foot longer than his former garage.

He admitted the container “did not look great” but he was happy he now had some storage space and his children could now go to school on their bikes.

He added: “Everyone I know has been behind me and people know the hassle I have had. I did not think the garage was out of place at all.

“I am glad it’s over. It’s not the outcome I wanted – I would have preferred the garage.”

Stuart Timmiss, head of planning at the county council, said planning laws made it clear the container was a “permitted development” in this type of area.

“Therefore, as a local authority, we have no powers at all to deal with this matter,” he added.