Latest news with #planningbattle
Yahoo
10-08-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ab Fab and Bottom couple face battle to develop Dartmoor home
Ade Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders face a fresh planning battle over a £250k extension to their historic Dartmoor home, Teigncombe Manor. The couple, who split time between London and Devon, want to remove conditions on previous permissions for landscaping, a garden pavilion, and air source heat pumps. Dartmoor National Park officers raised concerns about harm to the Grade II-listed building's setting and visual impact. A decision on the application is pending.
The Sun
10-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Jennifer Saunders and Adrian Edmondson locked in YEAR-long battle over £250k extension to £2m country mansion
JENNIFER Saunders and Adrian Edmondson have been locked in a year-long battle over an extension to their £2million country mansion. Celebrity couple Ade Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders are facing a fresh planning battle over the £250,000 extension of their historic Dartmoor home. 3 3 The Absolutely Fabulous and Bottom stars bought the country retreat to enjoy rural life and said they plan to move there full time. The pair - who currently split time between a London townhouse and their Devon home - want to carry out a raft of landscaping and construction works to the property. They had previously been granted planning permission last year to create a new entrance and parking area, extend a workshop, create a terrace and move a existing greenhouse. They also want to replace a window, build a new garden pavilion and install air source heat pumps and a solar array. Permission was granted with conditions attached, but the couple have now applied for several of these to be "discharged". This includes the requirement to remove a external staircase and first floor door in their entirety within a year of the original permission and installing the first floor window shown in plans within the same timescale. The couple also want to remove the stipulation that details of the "new replacement painted timber door" should be submitted and approved in writing by planners. The planning application, that is currently under consideration by Dartmoor National Park Authority, also seeks to remove a third condition that details of how and where Air Source Heat Pumps will be installed is approved in advance. In documents to support the original application, their representatives wrote: "Jennifer and Adrian have lived at Teigncombe Manor for over 30 years. "Their work has meant that the couple splits their time between London and Devon. "However, Jennifer and Adrian anticipate in the coming years reducing the amount of time spent away from home in and living full time at Teigncombe Manor. "They wish to make some sensitive alterations to the existing outbuildings in order to better suit their current needs and lifestyles." But building conservation officer Clare Vint for the Dartmoor National Park Authority, had raised concerns and wrote in her report: "As the application currently stands the impact of the proposals on the significance of the listed buildings and their setting has not been minimised. "There is also insufficient justification for the works and minimal public benefit." The council report states the settlement on the site predates the Doomsday Book of 1086 formerly known as Taincoma and the 16th century Manor House is grade II listed. Ms Vint added: "The interior and exterior of the building are of high significance architecturally, historically and archaeologically." She said the air source heat pump and relocated oil tank would need to be screened to minimise the visual impact while an "associated concrete slab" needed to be minimised to avoid a physical impact on the foundations of the listed building. She said the entrance walling, location and size of vehicle access "should not be altered" while warning building a paved area would "interrupt the relationship between the stables (cottage) building and the house." She added: " The change in topography to create the car pergola, with its stark raised eastern wall, glazed balustrade, with vehicles visible at high level when viewed from the south east will cause harm to the setting of the cottage, the setting of the house and the overall relationship between them. "When coupled with the open car port frame (pergola) the negative impact is increased (irrespective of whether this is covered in vegetation in time)." Plans for the degree of negative impact of the solar panels can only be fully assessed with details of the amount of vegetation that would need to be removed, she added. Ms Vent also recommended a number of amendments to minimise the impact on the building. These included painting external stairs black to reduce their visibility and screening the air source heat pump or potentially relocating it to a less visible location. She also recommended minimising the 'negative impact' on the garden pavilion through a 'reduction in overall height, depth and width, and a more lightweight structure." Teigncombe Manor, the site of a mediaeval settlement and the Domesday manor of Taincoma, has a rich history. The manor, referred to as South Teign in historical documents, was likely a rest house on Mariner's Path during the Middle Ages. The current structure of Teigncombe Manor is a former Dartmoor longhouse refurbished in the mid-20th century. The cottage range of buildings dates to between the 1880s and 1905, with refurbishments carried out by the current client following a successful planning application in 1995. The application on behalf of the celebrity couple stated "Some works within the listed curtilage of the cottage were previously undertaken without consent. "This application seeks to regularise those works, with no structural alterations proposed within the cottage." A decision on the application to remove the conditions will be made at a later date. 3
Daily Mail
08-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Residents' fury after wealthy neighbour extends his 'horrific' £1million 'American-style McMansion' without planning permission sparking 'war for the ages'
Civil war has erupted on a leafy street over a 'horrific' extension on a £1million property which neighbours claim they knew nothing about until it was finished. Locals claim the new property is in breach of planning rules and looks like a ' Los Angeles McMansion'. The row has kicked off in the peaceful village of Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire, where locals are 'gearing up' for a 'planning battle'. Councillors on Stoke Poges Parish Council and locals have accused owner Jag Bahia of breaching planning permission granted for his extension works on the property. The property's extended garage and roof, as well as altered window layouts, all deviate from the original plans approved by Buckinghamshire Council. Nearby residents agreed with the parish council's objection that the finished works are not in keeping with the traditional English character of the area - with one neighbour saying it was like living across the road from an American mansion. Tracey Harvey, who has lived on the road for 22 years, said: 'It's just shocking to look at. It would look good in Hollywood - not here. 'We are crying out for houses and yet people aren't allowed to build. But they get away with it - it's a joke.' LOST IN TRANSLATION: Before and after plans reveal huge scale of development which neighbours say happened behind their backs LOST IN TRANSLATION: Before and after plans reveal huge scale of development which neighbours say happened behind their backs Tracey's husband Frank, 88, said: 'We're a bit down about it all. It's what people do - they chance it. It's what's going on all over this world - I don't get it.' A resident nearby said the finished works left the house too large for its plot - and strict repercussions should be carried out for any planning breaches. She said: 'Everyone thinks it's oversized for the plot. I feel sorry for the neighbours. I think it's way too big for where it is. It's horrific. She said: 'If they fine them, they should make it more than £20,000. It would send a message. There should be repercussions. 'Rule are there for a reason. Why should one person get away with it? It seems it's about how much money you can throw at it.' One nearby resident, who asked not to be named, said they had made dozens of reports to the Environment Agency due to builders burning material in the property's garden during the works - but there was no indication that the issue was followed-up. They said: 'It's a shame that we have got a situation where rather than the local authority enforcing the rules that make everything work, they put us in a position where they pit neighbour versus neighbour. Who doesn't want to get on with people?' Julie Devonald, 50, who has lived on Gerrards Cross Road for 33 years, said: 'Some people are very cheeky. You give them an inch and they then take a mile. 'Just because you have done it, it doesn't mean you can get away with it.' Another resident said: 'We're all gearing up for a planning battle.' Online records indicate that the property was sold for £1,225,000 in 2020. The parish council has called in the application for a decision by Buckinghamshire Council's East and South Area Planning Committee. In its objection, the parish council argued that the proposed changes result in an inappropriate development due to substantial alterations. They add that the development would harm both the character and setting of the area, representing an overdevelopment of the site with an unsuitable design. The planning committee will meet on Tuesday, June 10, to decide on the application. Councilor Saera Carter said the parish council had to employ an outside expert to 'unpick' the planning application and works. She said: 'The parish council employed for the first time ever a consultant to unpick this mess. We kept looking at it saying, "this doesn't make sense, this doesn't make sense".'
