A £7,000 climbing frame bought by a Solihull couple for their children has fallen foul of planning chiefs – because it is so big they are classing it as a building.
Pat and Eileen Fegan have threatened to sue Solihull Council if they are ordered to move it for the second time.
The couple, from Tidbury Green, moved the construction away from the garden perimeter once, on the advice of a planning officer.
Officials have decided the frame is so large it comes under planning laws.
The council has warned that one of their neighbours was still not happy and that the planning committee had yet to confirm the play area was acceptable.
And to help them decide whether the climbing frame was legal council bosses consulted the Human Rights Act.
The discussion took place after the local authority received a complaint about the 3.75 metre-high wooden construction, which has a climbing wall, swings and a slide.
A planning officer decided the frame was a “building operation” and Mr and Mrs Fegan were given the option to move it 0.9 metres inwards or apply for permission to keep it.
The couple paid to have the play area moved within the legal distance but were then told the case had still to be signed off by the planning committee.
Mr Fegan, a managing director, said: “We had the climbing frame put up just before Christmas as a present for our two young children.
“We moved it but the officer said that as one person still wasn’t happy it would have to go to the committee.
“If the neighbour had approached us in an amicable manner we would have been more than happy to move it.
“We couldn’t believe it caused such a fuss. We will take legal action if they ask us to move it again.”
