TV persona and property developer Sarah Beeny is difficult a Somerset Council order to demolish components of her £3 million Stoney Stoke property.
Beeny, identified for her experience in property, accomplished in depth renovations to her household dwelling with out planning permission arguing that the additions are in step with her imaginative and prescient for the agricultural property and insists her enhancements add worth.
Right here’s a breakdown of the planning dispute over her Victorian-inspired dwelling, which Beeny and her household have been renovating since 2018.
What did Sarah Beeny construct?
Sarah Beeny constructed her home in 2018 and since then she has made various modifications together with an expanded balcony, French doorways, and extra landscaping modifications, together with a treehouse, boathouse, and a Victorian-style greenhouse.
Initially, Beeny had been granted permission to demolish a Seventies farmhouse and assemble a brand new dwelling, nevertheless, she added a number of extensions and structural changes after beginning the mission, arguing that these options enhanced the aesthetic and performance of the property.
A lot of this work has been documented in her Channel 4 collection, New Life within the Nation, which follows her journey in remodeling the property right into a stately dwelling.
Beeny by no means gained planning permission for these modifications and was compelled to submit a retrospective planning software.
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Why have the council rejected the applying?
Somerset Council, together with Charlton Musgrove Parish Council, opposed Beeny’s retrospective planning software, stating that her modifications contradict the unique permission to demolish and exchange the farmhouse.
In rejecting her software in Could, the council famous that the extensions and extra constructions had been unauthorised and deemed her strategy inconsistent with the agreed-upon planning permissions.
Considerations had been additionally raised over the impression of the mission on native wildlife, notably a identified bat inhabitants, which underneath planning regulation requires Beeny to acquire a European Protected Species license and create a bat roost as a part of a mitigation plan.
The Parish Council has additionally voiced objections to Beeny’s expanded use of agricultural land, arguing that her modifications blur the boundaries of what was authorised.
“We discover this retrospective software for an extension to a home that ought to have been demolished conflicting,” learn an announcement from the council, with members citing their fear about “the lack of agricultural land” and the elevated footprint of the event.
Beeny information attraction with Planning Inspectorate
In response, Beeny has filed an attraction with the Planning Inspectorate, supported by a 125-page doc from her design group, detailing the explanations for her modifications.
Beeny argues that her modifications align along with her imaginative and prescient of a traditional Victorian-style nation dwelling that provides character to the agricultural panorama and supplies her household with purposeful areas.
“We’ve put a lot thought into creating one thing that enhances the property and the encircling countryside,” Beeny defined in an interview, including that the brand new additions, together with a greenhouse and re-cladding of the barn, assist combine the property into its atmosphere sustainably.
Regardless of the council’s insistence on following planning tips, Beeny stays hopeful that her attraction might be profitable, permitting her to proceed growing the property. Her supporters argue that the additions are fastidiously designed, sustaining the spirit of the countryside whereas modernising the house.