Now mother-of-two ordered to repaint pink front door gets ANOTHER complaint after turned it white

A mother-of-two who was ordered to repaint her pink front door by a kill-joy council has been hit with another complaint after she changed it to off-white.

Miranda Dickson, 49, inherited her childhood home in Drummond Place, which her parents bought in 1981 in Edinburgh’s New Town, a UNESCO heritage area.

After returning from living in Los Angeles, she painted the door pink – but was threatened with a £20,000 fine by the City of Edinburgh Council.

She was ordered to change the colour by April so painted it green as she had not had confirmation from the council’s planning permission department and the deadline was looming.

The green colour was welcomed by neighbours but she then received a missive telling her the application was rejected, so changed it to off-white, three weeks ago.

Ms Dickson inherited her parents’ Georgian home on Drummond Place, Edinburgh, in 2019 in the World Heritage conservation area, and in 2021 she got the front door professionally painted with Dulux pink paint (pictured)

But she faced a £20,000 fine for painting her front door pink against the council’s conservation orders – so she painted it bright green

She has now recieved another complaint despite her door being painted off-white

Miranda, who took over her parents’ travel firm when they died, only found out about the most recent complaint after being told about it by a BBC journalist.

She also revealed a complaint was made about wallpaper she used inside her house.

She said the attitudes in Edinburgh were the polar opposite of L.A, or of the neighbourliness she enjoyed in Moss Side, Manchester.

Miranda said: ‘I was just gobsmacked. I feel like it’s becoming discriminatory, it obviously is personal.

‘There are many brightly coloured doors within Edinburgh’s New Town. 

‘I am hoping the council aren’t going to take the complaint seriously, I painted it thinking: “How could anyone find this offensive”.

‘It is obviously someone in my neighbourhood who has a problem with me – they should go and see the Barbie movie!

‘It’s off white, it’s so muted – he painted it three weeks ago.

In October last year, Ms Dickson said that she believed the complaint was ‘malicious’ and described her front door as pretty (Pictured, Ms Dickson celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubillee)

She has also revealed a complaint about the acid-green wallpaper she used inside her house

The latest complaint came after she phoned the painter and got the colour redone as quickly as possible, hoping the saga would end

‘I moved back to Edinburgh after eight years in the States and didn’t expect people would be so mean.

‘I’m just really hoping that the council will see sense.’

Miranda inherited the house in 2019, and in 2021 she painted the door pink.

But she was told to change it in October 2022 or face a £20,000 fine – so she she painted it green in April.

On May 18 Miranda then received a letter saying she was ‘violating’ the UNESCO heritage area with her green front door.

She phoned the painter and got it redone as quickly as possible, hoping the saga would end, and three weeks ago it was painted off-white.

On Monday she learnt of a new complaint.

She continued: ‘Half the neighbours are supportive, but I’ve been here longer than half the people on this street.

In October 2022 she was threatened with a £20,000 fine by killjoy councillors at the City of Edinburgh Council who’s planning rules state doors should be ‘muted'(pictured, the green door on Drummond Place, Edinburgh)

Ms Dickson said her street, Drummond Place, is filled with brightly coloured front doors, and compared it to Notting Hill, in London, or Bristol (Pictured: Other coloured doors on her street)

‘I don’t understand how you can pick on this door and not mandate nonsensical rules.

‘These are guidelines, not rules. When I asked the council is there a colour palate to choose from, there isn’t.

‘They just said a ‘normal colour’. The Georgians used pale colours because pigment was expensive.

‘Robert Adam, one of the architects of Edinburgh’s New Town, used a lot of pink in his interiors.

‘I don’t know when these rules were made but when I stripped the door it had been bright yellow and mint green – there’s bright green and bright coral doors which were painted recently.

‘You can’t have a set of guidelines but only enforce them when someone complains, it doesn’t work. It comes down to personal opinion.

‘It isn’t like putting a glass box on the side of the building or turning a house into apartments.’

Also part of the listed status is wallcoverings painted by a Grecophile former owner in 1890, depicting urns and ‘tigers which look like rats’.

Miranda repapered her office in acid green wallpaper to preserve the depictions – but was stunned to be told by the council that someone had complained.

She said: ‘Someone complained about the wallpaper inside the house.

‘My parents had that room restored but it’s my office, I had it covered with acid green wallpaper.’