A Kingsley couple could face having their home demolished after being accused of breaching the rules of their planning permission. The property's owners Mr and Mrs Tim Wood, were granted planning permission to build Willow Cottage, a two- storey private dwelling in South Hay, in May 2004. However, it has now been reported that the home they built is larger than shown in the original planning application. Planning control manager for East Hampshire District Council Chris Murray told The Herald: "We permitted the applicant to demolish an existing house and build a new dwelling at 8.3 metres tall, but the dimensions of the new building have been stretched and it now stands at 9.3 metres. The footprint of the building has also changed from the initial plans." As a result, EHDC served Mr and Mrs Wood with an enforcement notice on December 7, 2005. If the enforcement is upheld, they may be forced to pull the building down. Mr Wood has lodged an appeal against the enforcement notice on two grounds. Firstly, that planning permission should be granted for what is alleged in the notice and, secondly, the steps required to comply with the requirements of the notice are excessive and lesser steps could overcome the objections." Mr Murray said: "There are other alternatives to demolishing the whole house, and these will be further discussed at the next appeal meeting." It has been alleged that the breaching of planning permission was the intention of the developers from the outset of the application. A spokesman for the district council told The Herald: "There was a slight discrepancy in the plans, in that the scale showed that the house would be 8.3 metres high. However, the agent had written 9.3 metres beside it. The approved plans showed a house that was 8.3 metres tall, and it is this that was given permission." It has also been argued that a retrospective planning application submitted by Mr Wood for extra windows on the dwelling had suggested intent. A spokesman for Binsted Parish Council said: "The retrospective planning application was submitted in July 2005 but is dated March 2004. These plans predate the original planning approval date of May 2004. This shows that the retrospective application plan was in existence prior to the permission date. Does this show an intent?" The deviation to plans has given the dwelling enough extra space for a third floor, and contravenes the council's policy that houses in the countryside cannot be extended by more than 50 per cent. The Binsted Parish Council spokesman added: "Had the plans originally submitted refer to a three-storey dwelling they would, in the minds of the parish council, have been rejected. Yet we now have a three-storey dwelling by default." However, Chris Murray warned: "There has been a lot of speculation about the intention of the developers, but there is no mileage in making those kind of arguments. Whether they intended to breach the planning application or not is not a planning issue. The inquiry will only be concerned with the planning merits." Members of Binsted Parish Council strongly believe that granting the appeal would lead to other problems. "If this appeal is upheld it will set a dangerous precedent and send all the wrong signals to developers," said the spokesman. The public inquiry has been adjourned until March 27, when talks will resume.
