A naturist has won the right to continue to sunbathe naked in his garden despite a primary school being built beside his home.
Antoni Bogulak told a council meeting in Arbroath, Angus, that he wanted to continue ‘sunbathing in the buff’ but didn’t want to cause offence to pupils or staff at neighbouring Muirfield Primary School.
The school is to get a new £8.7m building and the 74-year-old’s home will be in its direct line of sight – so councillors have agreed to install a frosted glass window.
Antoni Bogulak, 74, has won the right to continue ‘sunbathing in the buff’ in his back garden
The Antoni’s garden with the school in the background. The area to the left is where the school will be relocated
Retired Mr Bogulak said: ‘I have been a naturist for 40 years and if this one window is in the line of sight of my garden then it will affect my ability to occasionally sunbathe in the buff.
‘I have no need to cause offence so I would have no option but to stop being a naturist.
‘It’s something I enjoy. If I can lie in the sun for an hour with no clothes on, it’s better than lying in a tight swimming costume.’
Councillors accepted Mr Bogulak’s concerns and attached a condition that the window in question, which would be positioned in the stairwell of school, be frosted over.
He lives with his wife, who he said does not share his appetite for naturism and added that his objection was ‘just about privacy’.
‘I wouldn’t want to worry anyone,’ he said. ‘But I obviously don’t want kids to be able to see through it and say ‘what’s that man doing?’
Mr Bogulak said he didn’t want to cause offence to pupils or staff at neighbouring Muirfield Primary School
Councillors accepted Mr Bogulak’s concerns and attached a condition that the window in question, which would be positioned in the stairwell of school, be frosted over
The school development is part of a multimillion-pound project to rebuild some of the town’s ageing primaries. Mr Bogulak’s wife said his objection was ‘just about privacy’
‘It’s not my intention to scare parents or anyone. I’m not particularly happy with where the school is going in general but I also don’t want to have to stop being a naturist.’
The school development is part of a multimillion-pound project to rebuild some of the town’s ageing primaries and will lead to a fall in the school’s capacity from 434 pupils to 335.
The plans are part of the second phase of the project, following the replacement Timmergreens and Warddykes schools which opened last year.
The local authority also plans to replace Hayshead, with a consultation ongoing for it to share a campus with St Thomas.