A COUPLE have won a three-year battle with planning authorities for the right to watch satellite TV.
Nigel and Jenny Harrison bought their home at the St Clare’s development in Pantasaph, near Holywell, in March 2009.
The development is at the site of the former St Clare’s convent, which has been converted into apartments.
Fewer than a dozen new houses were also built around the former convent, which is where the Harrisons live.
Despite there being a central satellite dish to serve all the properties, the Harrisons have suffered with poor quality Sky reception.
But because the property in St David’s Close is in a conservation area, they are unable to make alterations to their home, which includes fitting their own satellite TV dish, without planning permission.
The developers, Elan Homes, on behalf of the Harrisons, have twice requested permission from Flintshire Council to erect a 43cm dish on the property, but planning officers have refused claiming it will “harm the character” of the area.
The plans came before Flintshire Council’s planning committee on Wednesday and officers had recommended the application be refused, which the committee branded “ridiculous”.
Cllr Gareth Roberts said: “We all want to protect buildings of merit, but we have to be reasonable here and a recommendation for refusal is anything but reasonable.
“TV reception is no longer a luxury – it’s part of modern living.
“It’s a dish on a wall. What impact will it have? If we refuse this we would be a laughing stock.”
Retired Barclays senior manager Mr Harrison, who is in his 60s, said they miss watching educational programmes, such as the Discovery channel, as well as the film channels.
He added: “We would be watching a film and it would just start breaking up and a lot of the time you couldn’t get a signal at all.
“When you are paying £60 a month you expect to be able to watch it every day.”
Other properties in the area have erected satellite dishes without permission, but Mr Harrison opted to follow the proper channels.
He added: “The whole thing is ridiculous and really unreasonable.
“The whole process has been very stressful. Our landlord put the application in for us, but it was at a cost to them and planning applications are not cheap.”
In a report to the committee, planning officer Barbara Kinnear said the dish would be “visual clutter” and suggested the Harrisons could “share” their neighbour’s dish, but this could not be agreed.
She said: “The council consider the midi dish would be obtrusive and would harm the character of the conservation area by introducing an item of visual clutter in a prominent position within the contextual view of the main historic convent building.”
Cllr Chris Dolphin, who has been helping the couple with their battle, urged “common sense” to prevail.
Members voted overwhelmingly to grant planning permission.
Mr Harrison said he was “relieved” it was finally resolved and was hoping to get the dish fitted in time for Christmas.