The Teviot Valley residents bought an Oamaru stone house near Millers Flat in February, only to have their attempt to build a matching garage stymied by the Central Otago District Council.
Mr and Mrs Pemberton live in an area zoned as rural resource by the council, within which Oamaru stone is now deemed an unsuitable finish for homes.
Their house was built in 1983 and the couple have spent past months planning alterations to the building, as well as the construction of a new garage on the property.
This week, they received a bill from the council for $660 for compliance costs, relating to an application for resource consent they had to file for their "smooth cream" coloured garage.
Under the district's draft new planning rules, Oamaru stone is specifically excluded from a list of suitable building materials for rural homes, and the change has prompted an outcry from residents, architects and people in the building industry.
Anyone wanting to build an Oamaru stone home in the rural resource area of the district now needs planning consent to breach the district plan rules.
Paint the colour of Oamaru stone is also in breach of the council's rules.
Mrs Pemberton said she never thought a cream coloursteel garage would require consent solely for its colour and was surprised to find it did.
She and Mr Pemberton chose the colour to match their house and found it silly a black or bright red garage - which they thought would be more of an eyesore - would not need consent.
"We were a bit gutted. We more or less blend into the landscape," Mrs Pemberton said.
Their nearest neighbour is 1.3km away, the nearest main road 2km away and they live up a 400m driveway at the foot of a hill surrounded by trees.
"It's bureaucracy interfering with something that makes a lot of sense," Mr Pemberton said.
