EXCLUSIVE Couple who illegally built dream £1million home instead of horse breeding clinic are ordered to tear it down after planning inspector criticises 'flagrant breach' of rules

Daily Mail​

20-05-2025

A couple who have been ordered to demolish a million-pound property they secretly built and moved into have complained they will have nowhere to go to.
Jeremy Zielinski and his wife Elaine were given permission for a two-storey commercial building for a stallion semen collection centre and laboratory, with a small first floor flat for staff.
But while the outside of the property in 17-acres of land they bought in Great Abington, Cambridgeshire, adhered to their planning application, they turned the interior into a well-appointed three-bedroom home with stunning feature windows overlooking the countryside.
Council officials got wind of the subterfuge and issued an enforcement notice in 2023 to tear the structure down.
The couple appealed against the order on the grounds that it was excessive and the property could simply revert to the permitted use.
But a planning inspector has thrown it out after seeing evidence they had 'constructed a dwelling from the off' and criticised them for their 'clear and flagrant breach of planning policy'.
Despite the excoriating judgement, Mrs Zielinski, 79, insisted to the Mail she and her husband had been unaware they were breaking the law.
The GP's receptionist said: 'We want to carry on living here. It's a warm and comfortable home. I love it.
'It doesn't make sense to tear it down. I don't want to go and live in a caravan. If we are chucked out, we will be having to rely on the state.
'We would not have gone on and built this and put all our money into it unless we thought it was totally legal to do it.'
Her husband, 73, a former marketing manager for The Injured Jockeys Fund who now does home deliveries for a pharmacy, added: 'I have not had a decent night's sleep in years and, from the moment when we got the first visit in 2020 [from council officials], life has been shaky…
'We have lost £1 million overnight as a result of this decision. If we could have a semen clinic on the site it would be worth at least £1 million.'
Most neighbours supported the decision, however, with one saying: 'People should obey the rules. I don't have any sympathy because they shouldn't have changed the use.'
Another commented: 'He's overstepped the mark. He's gone too far.'
But David Hamper, 61, said: 'I genuinely feel sorry for him. He's flouted the rules to a certain extent and would admit to that but to have your neighbours saying 'pull it down' is a hard thing for him to see.'
The horse-mad couple bought a house with an outbuilding and 17 acres of land for £100,000 in 1986.
In 2014, they were given planning permission by South Cambridgeshire District Council for a countryside business with a reception area, office, kitchenette, laboratory space, staff changing room and toilet on the ground floor and two bedrooms with en suite bathrooms on the first floor.
But planning inspector Chris Preston noted the property had a 'decidedly residential appearance', including a kitchen with island breakfast bar, domestic furnishings and appliances, a dining area, living room and home office.
Upstairs were two bedrooms with a 'lounge equipped with sofa and television'.
Contractors began work on the property in 2017 and Mr and Mrs Zielinski - who had three children, although one tragically died in 2021 after taking the Covid vaccine - sold their own house two years later, moving into a static home.
The couple believe a jealous neighbour informed on them, leading to planning officers visiting their home and the July 2023 enforcement notice which ordered it to be razed to the ground.
In the submission to the Planning Inspectorate, they claimed lockdown wrecked their business plans for the clinic and they were forced to turn the property into their home, while continuing to run their commercial interests in their grounds.
The order to pull down the entire building was over the top and would leave them without a roof over their heads, they added.
Mr Preston turned down their appeal, concluding it had been built as a house from the start, rather than converted from the approved lab and flat, and the couple had sold their own home and another plot of land with permission for a dwelling.
He also noted there was 'very little evidence that the stallion semen collection and analysis business every got off the ground to any notable degree'.
The only payment for laboratory fees was £44 for a horse named Dublin but there was 'no indication as to whether the analysis was carried out at the appeal site'.
Mr Preston also considered the owners' claim to need somewhere to live but concluded: 'Given the clear and flagrant breach of planning policy and the associated harm arising, I find that interference with the human rights of the appellant and his wife would be proportionate in this case.'
The Zielinskis, who have six grandchildren, are now taking legal advice to see if they can overturn the decision. Otherwise, the house must be demolished within 12 months.
Mr Zielinski added: 'If we have broken the rules, we didn't know the full ramifications.
'We did not get any advice from the planners along the way. The first we knew something was wrong was in 2020. There was not much communication. Don't throw us out on the street.'
His wife said: 'At least the building should be allowed to stand and revert back to what they expected it to be.
'There have been new housing estates going up all over the place in and around Abington. That's the daft thing – the fields around here where we used to ride have all been built up.'
Cllr Dr Tumi Hawkins, the district council's lead cabinet member for planning, said he welcomed 'the inspector's clear decision'.
He added: 'This case shows the importance of adhering to the specific uses and conditions that justify development in rural areas.
'Planning rules are there for a reason – including protecting our countryside and this decision demonstrates that we will act when those rules are broken.'