Thanks all for the advice, please keep it coming. Rob I was thinking of incorporating an enclosed observatory of some sort on the deck. Elevating with a deck will also help with making the observing area less visible from the house as the patio roof goes out quite a way from the kitchen and by having the deck and enclosure elevated just beyond the patio it will be partially obscured by the patio roof. This will please the wife.
I don't need room for computers etc in the observatory because my office is at the back of the house and would be no more than 10m from the observing spot and I could just see the scope. I reckon I could send data wirelessly at that distance and sit at my computer talking with the wife and wouldn't make her an AP widow.