Councillors' fury over 'overbearing and dominant' unauthorised homes

'I'm sure other developers are watching with interest'

SENIOR councillors this week accused their own officers of impotence for apparently allowing a developer to defy them.

In what could be a test case for the district, an “unauthorised” build in Hungerford continued to rise as this newspaper went to press.

This was despite planning conditions being openly flouted, a ‘stop’ notice being ordered and a ruling by West Berkshire Council’s western area planning committee.

Permission for a two-house development at Upper Eddington was originally granted to Waddington Forbes Homes Ltd of Cookham, despite objections, in 2012.

But in June, angry Eddington residents demanded action, claiming that developers were making a mockery of the system by ignoring planning conditions.

They claimed the development ignored height and boundary restrictions and introduced an intrusive stone wall. Meanwhile an extra storey has been added.

A West Berkshire planning officer wrote to the developers, warning the development was “unauthorised and may be subject to enforcement action”.

And at a meeting of the district council’s western area planning committee on Wednesday, September 2, members ordered the work to be halted.

Hilary Cole (Con, Chieveley) said she was “absolutely staggered by how dominant these buildings are” and added: “We should not be seen as such a soft touch.”

Anthony Pick (Con, St John’s) agreed: “I was astounded by the degree of dominance of these two buildings.”

Clive Hooker (Con, Downlands) said: “I have never seen a construction that has been more offensive or overbearing.”

James Podger (Con, Hungerford) disagreed, stating: “I believe that if it’s not granted it will be worse for the residents as it will take much longer.”

And committee chairman Paul Bryant warned that, because the development was so advanced, it would “punish the developer” to insist that he now abided by the conditions.

Nevertheless the committee rejected the application to retrospectively allow the waiving of prior conditions and ordered a ‘stop’ notice to be issued.

But on Monday, residents said work was apparently continuing, and workers could be seen pouring cement.

Mr Bairstow said after the meeting: “We might just as well not have a planning committee, or rules, if they’re not enforced.

“It will be a free-for-all and I’m sure other developers are watching with interest.

“It seems planning procedure wasn’t enforced as rigorously as it should have been.

“The development is now huge, like a museum.”

He warned that developers should not be allowed to “thumb their noses” at planning officers and added: “We should make an example. It seems that, because of a reduction in planning inspectors, no one knew what was going on.”

Mrs Cole said: “It seems there was an assumption we would approve it just because work has started. If we allowed this we would be setting a precedent.

“But the issue with enforcement is that they’re understaffed – it’s a question of manpower.

“But people can’t flout planning conditions and get away with it. We need to send a strong message to other developers.”

A spokesman for the developers, agent Peter Tompkins, said: “We still haven’t received a formal decision from the council.”

West Berkshire Council spokeswoman Joanne Bassett said: “The preparation of a stop notice is fairly complicated and has to be carefully worded and hence it has not been issued yet.

“Officers in the planning enforcement and legal sections are currently drafting an appropriate stop notice and it is considered that it may be issued early next week.”

She added: “The terms of the notice are quite clear and the developer will understand from the terms of the notice the risks he is taking if he ignores those terms.

“If the developer chooses to ignore the terms of the stop notice, the penalties he faces are significant.”