Neighbours anger at recommendation to approve retrospective planning application for large Northamptonshire house

Councillors have been recommended to approve a retrospective planning application to amend a large house in Northamptonshire that has angered neighbours.

The rural property between East Haddon and Holdenby is around 200-sq-m larger than the 2018 permission set out, according to a West Northamptonshire Council officer's report.

West Northamptonshire Council's Daventry area planning committee will discuss a request by the owner to regularise the property on Tythe Farm on Holdenby Road on Wednesday (June 9).

In total, 33 residents have objected to the application, citing complaints about it setting a precedent for allowing developers to build outside of the planning permission, as well as East Haddon and Ravensthorpe parish councils.

The officer's report reads: "The principle of residential development on the site has been established by the previous planning permissions.

"Owing to the scale and design of the original approved scheme, it is considered that the changes proposed in this application would not have significantly more impact on the character and appearance of the site, surrounding rural area and Special Landscape Area, and public rights of ways, than the dwelling previously approved.

"The proposed changes would not result in any more impact on neighbour residential amenity and no significant highway issues or other issues have been identified that would justify refusal of the application."

In 2015, planning permission was granted to convert a former 1.5-storey agricultural barn into two dwellings with living accommodation at the first floor but it was never implemented.

Subsequently, the council allowed for the demolition of the building and the construction of two two-storey, detached four-bed properties with single-storey attached garages.

One of the houses, known as Plot 1, has been extended to six bedrooms through further applications but a request to build a full first-floor extension was rejected in 2017.

The latest application retrospectively asks to raise the height of the dwelling by one metre to provide living accommodation in the roof at second floor.

As well as construct of a first floor balcony platform on the rear elevation and to increase the footprint of the dwelling by two metres in depth and 1.8 metres in length.

East Haddon Parish Council wrote in its response to the consultation: “The parish council object to this application on the basis that the original application has not been adhered to in a number of ways.

"Such deviations from the original application concern the parish council greatly."

A website has been set up to raise awareness of the house being reportedly built outside of its planning permission and 27 objection letters use its format to oppose the scheme.

"This sort of build makes a complete mockery of building regulations and planning permission," one person wrote in their objection letter.

While a planning consultancy and a planning law solicitor's have also written to the council to object to the proposal on behalf of residents.

"The only legitimate and proportionate decision the council can make is to refuse this application," one letter reads.

"The design is unacceptable and no good reason had been put forward by the applicant for proceeding with non-compliant works in advance of planning being granted for them."