Thursday - September 24, 2009

Planners ban family from their own barn conversion… but rule holidaymakers CAN live there.

I really,really was planning to close for the night, and darned if just before shutting down I thought to check something and found this.

I’m not certain but I think I almost understand the planning people EXCEPT I don’t understand why they’d allow strangers to live there on holiday.

Bottom line tho is I think they’ve been heavy handed.  But maybe the new owners should have crossed all ‘Tees’ and dotted their ‘iz’ before going ahead.

Doesn’t seem right however, to let them spend it all only to have it used for holiday ppl.

See the link and the photograph.  Personally, from what I could see it really does seem to blot the landscape. But then I’m prejudiced with regard to views. Reason being thus. 
There’s a new VERY expensive house being built next door.  They have just had about every single tree on the property cut down. Where before we had a tiny bit of shade and a little privacy, now there is none.  There used to be a tree that gave a plum tasting fruit the size of a large cherry. GONE. And a beautiful cherry blossom tree. GONE.  I never realized before today just how really large that plot of land is. It gets wider at the back then it is at the front.  All that nice greenery. Kaput. Oh yeah. And three apple trees. GONE.  And they aren’t quite finished cutting yet. 
I wonder if they had permission from the city council to cut all those trees.  They also took out a beautiful Mountain Ash.  Miss that one most of all.

A family has been banned from living in their £300,000 dream home - but officials have ruled it can be rented out to holidaymakers instead.

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:48 PM on 24th September 2009

Jonathan and Emma Jones spent £100,000 converting an old barn for their perfect countryside home for their family.

But after structural problems meant it had to be rebuilt, planners said it counted as a new build and they had to reapply for planning permission.

The couple were then left homeless after permission was refused and they were told it could be used as a holiday let to encourage tourism in the picturesque Welsh village of Rhos, near Neath.

Mr Jones, 33, said: ‘I find it unbelievable that we can let the house to strangers but can’t live in it ourselves.

‘We are faced with the ludicrous situation of handing the keys to holidaymakers to stay in the dream home we have built for ourselves.’

The couple sold their former home to finance the demolition of the barn and building of the house.

Stone and other materials from the old barn were used to build a new four-bedroom house to look exactly the same.

But a report by Neath Port Talbot Council said the conversion ‘would be to the detriment of visual amenity and character of this rural area as a whole’.

Mr Jones said: ‘It’s absolutely crazy - the property looks identical whether it is used as holiday accommodation or as a dwelling.

‘The council basically had to choose who they would rather see stay in the house.

‘Would it be a young family born and bred in the area who work locally or strangers from outside the area?’

He added: ‘There are no problems with looks of the new house, it was approved as blending in with the countryside.

‘The decision not to allow us to live in it is unbelievable. To cut our losses we went ahead with the change of use which left us stranded and now we don’t have a home.’

The couple and their daughter Ffion, two, are now living with Mr Jones’ parents at their farmhouse, just yards away from the home they built.

Mr Jones has now lodged an appeal with the Welsh Assembly.

He said: ‘We look out on it when we get up every morning knowing that we can’t live there. It has led to a lot of stress for myself and my family.’

A spokesman for Neath Port Talbot Council said: ‘While Mr Jones was working on the original building at some point - for whatever reason - he demolished part of the existing barn and built a replica of it.

‘At that point we could not consider any new application as a conversion because this was now treated as a new property.’

Head of planning at the council, Geoff White, added: ‘The planning application was not for a barn conversion but was for the retention and completion of a new dwelling.

‘The site is in the open countryside where there are strict policies controlling development.

‘Approval was granted for the retention and completion of the building as holiday accommodation. That proposal has policy support in helping to diversify the rural economy and supporting the tourist industry.’

TAKE A LOOK AT THE PHOTO

Posted by peiper     on 09/24/2009 at 11:28 AM   
Filed Under: • Architecture • UK •  
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