Angry dad's 'life ruined' by next door neighbour's constant building works
One furious dad has claimed his life has been "ruined" because his next door neighbour is constantly doing building works.
Gavin Simpson, 53, a long-time resident of Southend Road in Beckenham, claimed to be at his wit's end over the continuous renovations on the Victorian house adjacent to his. Mr Simpson, who has resided in the neighbourhood with his family for over two decades, has complained that the recent developments have spoiled the tranquillity of their street.
The man behind the contentious construction is Conservative Councillor Adam Jude Grant. Representing the Shortlands and Park Langley ward for Bromley Council, Councillor Grant is identified on the council's planning portal as the applicant spearheading the modifications to the house, MyLondon reports.
According to Mr Simpson, ever since the property was sold to Councillor Grant five years ago, there have been relentless attempts to transform the house into a multi-unit dwelling. Initial plans proposed converting the house into a complex of 11 and nine flats, before finally settling on a seven-flat design which received approval.
A digger left a hole in the fence during the works (Joe Coughlan)
Mr Simpson said the pillar at the end of the house's driveway was knocked over by a lorry (Joe Coughlan)Mr Simpson said: "Adam was intent on developing it so that was when he put the plans through and it kind of all went a bit south from there."
Homeowner who built house on driveway forced to tear it down in planning row
Mr Simpson has described the work on his house as "frustrating", recounting incidents such as a lorry reversing into and knocking down a stone pillar at the end of his driveway, and a digger crashing into his fence, leaving a gaping hole. He confirmed that both issues have been rectified since.
The renovation works began with the demolition of the building's existing extension. Mr Simpson said: "They just knocked it down, so at one point we had probably a five metre wall that was free standing on its own, because they gutted out the whole extension. So it was just this wall here and the guy that was doing project management [on our home] at the same time said if there's a storm that could literally fall over."
The view from Mr Simpson's window, facing the neighbouring home (Joe Coughlan)Mr Simpson revealed that Cllr Grant had agreed to rebuild the toppled wall. However, despite the councillor's suggestion to formalise this agreement in writing, Mr Simpson claimed he has received no response. Consequently, he has resorted to sending a formal letter detailing their past communication and expressing his assumption that the councillor has adhered to the agreement.
He said: "They did a lousy job and I've got pictures of it. A child could have built the wall. There was like putty everywhere. It was a mess ... we've fallen out a number of times but for the last five or four months, he hasn't responded to anything."
Mr Simpson said that once the works started nearing completion, he noticed an extra window being added to the house’s new side extension, directly facing his downstairs bathroom window. While the glass in the extension’s window has since been frosted, Mr Simpson has tried applying to add a wooden fence above the boundary wall between his home and next door, but has encountered difficulties with the council’s planning department due to the scale of the drawings he sent.
Mr Simpson said: "I wonder whether if you weren't a councillor, having experience for the last four months of trying to deal with the planning people, it's a nightmare. It's cost me £500 and I still can't get this privacy screen up."
Mr Simpson said while his family have “despaired” over the whole process, he does not wish to make enemies with Cllr Grant and understands the desire for works to be carried out on the property. He said that while other neighbours on the road have complained about the dark paintwork added to the house, he is more intent on having the privacy of his home restored.
He said: “Some of the other neighbours have taken umbrage at the colours... The argument is the whole run of houses is 150 years old. All of them are white, all of them have these features, and suddenly you've got this anomaly in the middle."
He added: "I'm more worried about what happened with us... the fact that we could have had a five metre wall fall on us. The fact that we've now lost the privacy that we had before and that I'm in an argument with the planning people to re-establish, at my own costs, what I had before."
Cllr Grant was approached for comment.
Teenage boys' den for playing board games could be torn down after one complaint
* This article was crafted with the help of an AI tool, which speeds up The Mirror's editorial research. An editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to [email protected]
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
