Dad 'over the moon' as treehouse for daughter is saved in planning row
A dad is 'over the moon' that the tree house he built his daughter has been saved from demolition.
Damien George started planning the project with eight-year-old daughter Sequoia, who is home educated, five years ago by collecting bits of wood and timber. Taking about 18 months to actually build, the plan was to use it as a community hub to help her and others in the area with their homeschooling.
Recently, Damien had to fight to save the treehouse after it was put before a planning committee due to highway safety concerns. To his relief, councillors agreed it should remain and it was saved from being torn down.
The dad, from Grimsby, said: "The idea came about around five years ago when Sequoia and I started collecting wood and timber and the journey just went from there. It's taken me around 18 months to get to this point and now we're nearly finished."
Damien, who is a joiner by trade and owns his own company, Damien George Craftman Joinery, was delighted to use his skills to create something magical for his family.
Homeowner who built house on driveway forced to tear it down in planning row
The whole project took five years (Grimsby Live)"The plan was to use it as a community hub for the children in the village who are home-schooled. There are about 30 kids and we thought it would be a great way of getting them to socialise, but also to use as an outdoor learning space."
He added: "Sequoia loves anything woodland or outdoors so it was perfect for her and her friends to play in too."
Building came to a halt around a year ago though after a recommendation for refusal was put forward by North East Lincolnshire Council's planning committee.
It was also viewed that it would "detrimentally harm the visual appearance of the street scene". But not a single neighbour objected to the retrospective planning application, reported HullLive.
Damien wanted it to be a community tree house (Grimsby Live)But the treehouse was saved from demolition unanimously. "It's been a massive journey for me and my wife Nicola," said Damien.
"The treehouse puts a smile on everyone's face when they walk past and it's a massive positive for us that we can finally carry on building it. I was elated when I heard the decision and my daughter was over the moon when we told her everything.
"To see her reaction was amazing. She was in complete shock when we explained we might have had to take it down. Although I was quite confident it would get through the planning, there is always that thought of 'what if?' in the back of your mind."
Damien was "over the moon" that the tree house was saved (Grimsby Live)He added: "I'd hate to think that people don't like what I've built and it was great to hear so many positive comments about it too."
The tree house consists of a main platform, which has a climbing wall fixed to the front. There is also a bridge leading to a second area where the stairs are to get up and down the structure.
A zip wire is also incorporated into the lower part of the tree house which is fixed underneath the main platforms, with very little left to do before it's fully complete.
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Damien said: "I need to finish off the roofing and get it painted then it will be ready to go. I have to thank Councillors Paul Sylvester and Daniel Westcott though, they have helped me and supported me every step of the way and I'm thankful to the committee for their ruling."
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