Man who spent £5,000 on driveway ordered to rip it up
'It's like the council is prejudicing against our street,' said Stephen Price
Stephen Price in front of his near-completed driveway which he has been ordered to remove
(Image: Mark Lewis / WalesOnline)
A man who spent £5,000 on a driveway to help his disabled wife has been ordered to rip it up. Stephen Price, from Hengoed, has vowed to fight Caerphilly council's decision to refuse him retrospective planning permission.
The 65-year-old plumber and builder, of Heol Uchaf, started converting his front garden into a drive around 10 weeks ago and was close to completion when council officials told him to stop because he did not have permission. He then submitted a planning application which was refused last week after a majority vote by councillors.
His wife Kim Price, 67, has various life-limiting illnesses including heart failure, achalasia, arthritis, anaemia, and fibromyalgia. The couple told WalesOnline a lack of spaces means they usually have to park on another street on the estate, which puts Mrs Price in difficulty due to her mobility issues. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter .
Mr Price, who is facing a bill of around £13,000 to reverse the changes, claimed the council did not warn him planning permission would be needed when he requested a dropped kerb around 15 to 20 years ago.
"I told the council I wanted a drive and they said I'd need a dropped kerb so I paid them what would be about £500 in today's money to put one in," he said.
"I can't understand how the highways department didn't speak to the planning department at the time. Nothing was said about any restrictions on using it."
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Asked why there was a long delay between the dropped kerb being put in and the driveway work starting Mr Price said: "We weren't really desperate for a drive then.
"It was more of a want at that point but now we are desperate with my wife's health and the parking issue getting worse. We saved up to do it."
A council planning officer recommended the application be refused because of concerns the loss of the raised front yard would put the house out of keeping with the "distinctive character of the area". They also warned other property owners could be encouraged to do the same if it went ahead.
Mr Price, who bought the semi-detached house from the council in around 1990, conceded not many houses on his street have driveways but argued this is not the case for the other four streets on the estate.
"It's like the council is prejudicing against our street saying we can't have driveways when about 20 other houses on the estate have them," said Mr Price, who pointed out that none of his neighbours had objected to his application.
Mr Price plans to appeal the decision on the basis that "there is not one single look to the neighbourhood" and that the council is "discriminating against our street".
He had told councillors on the planning committee that he had already spent more than £5,000 hiring a digger and excavating part of his property, adding: 'To put it all back – we haven't got the money to do it anyway.'
A planning officer recommended refusal partly because approval would make it difficult "to resist other similar developments with cumulative adverse effects on the distinctive character of the area".
Speaking in support of the application Hengoed ward councillor Donna Cushing said Mr Price had been "unaware planning permission would be required" and that parking on another street made it hard for Mrs Price to get home.
Committee member councillor Nigel Dix urged his colleagues to 'show a bit of compassion' and overrule the officer's recommendation. 'I think in this case we should allow the residents to have their parking bay,' he said.
Councillor Shane Williams said he 'sympathised' with the applicant's case but 'if every homeowner decided to do this that would totally undermine' the street.
Councillor Mansell Powell called the case 'a bit untidy' with Mr Price 'caught in the middle' of planning rules. He claimed the presence of a dropped kerb outside the property suggested one could 'drive in' to it.
The committee voted to refuse the application by eight votes to four with two abstentions. The chairman, councillor Roy Saralis, said he had a 'tremendous amount of sympathy' for Mr Price and told him he had the right to appeal the decision.
'Obviously it's a sad situation but planning is planning,' the chairman added.
Caerphilly council was approached for comment.
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