$54,000 Shade of Grey

CHRIS Winter, is a local icon having run the barber shop for more than 40 years and is familiar with many shades of grey hair, but the recent dealings with the shade of grey of the barber shop roof is enough to make anyone’s hair stand on end.

Chris has worked in the barber shop in Liverpool Street for 40 years, 20 years of which he has owned the building.

Chris Winter cutting his uncle’s hair Fred Winter.

Many times he has painted the building, including the roof, which has always been painted grey.

His uncle, Fred Winter who is 88 years of age only remembers the colour of the roof being grey.

Recently Chris decided to give the building a facelift, including a new roof.

After extensive research, including trips to other towns to view paint selections on old buildings he decided on monument grey for the roof, shale grey for the walls, a basalt trim, high gloss black gates and white for the verandah posts.

The roof was almost complete when his contractor went to Council to seek approval for scaffolding to be placed at the front of the building.

Which was when Council instructed him to entirely remove the roof as it was the wrong shade of grey, at an estimated cost of $54,000.

Chris was not aware his building was heritage listed and that he was only permitted by Council to chose from a galvanised roof, zinc or the one specific shade of ‘shale grey’.

While shale grey was coincidentally going to the be the main paint colour of the building, with a darker monument grey roof, the difference in shade was simply not permitted by Council.

The roof colour selected by Mr Winters on the back of his building.

Fortunately, the cost of the change in roof colour has been absorbed with the existing roofing being reused elsewhere by the roofing contractor, but it could have been a very costly exercise for Chris and serves as a warning to other residents in the Shire.

“As I say it was never explained to me that this building was heritage, all my solicitor said was ‘don’t change the roof line’ and we haven’t changed the roof line and the place was grey when I came here 40 years ago and Lord knows how long before that and I’ve h the roof sprayed twice since I’ve been here grey both times and they never, ever came near me,” said Chris Winter.

“If it was heritage why weren’t we told, I think it is ridiculous,” he said.

“It’s been a willful waste and so unnecessary,” he said.

scone.com.au asked Council’s new general manager, Steve McDonald, how residents could be made aware of their building being heritage listed and if there was any latitude for owners on colour schemes.

Mr McDonald said there could be some flexibility, with owners able to submit their proposal to the Council’s heritage committee and confirmed Council will be sending out letters to owners of heritage buildings this week to ensure they are aware if their building needs to comply with heritage guidelines.

The baber shop in Scone.

More information:

• The list of heritage items and conservation areas in the Upper Hunter Local Environmental Plan can be viewed on line: Upper Hunter LEP 2013.
• Heritage maps: Upper Hunter LEP 2013 Maps.
• Heritage maps at Council: Our Shire Maps.

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