19 May (Part 1) - Whatever was she thinking of?
You may remember that Councillor Maxine Fothergill has had
a little spot of bother with Sevenoaks Council.
She built a nice little porch on her house without planning permission. Sevenoaks Council told her
to knock it down within three months.
Councillor Fothergill appealed and two days ago Sevenoaks Council published the verdict of the government inspector
on their website.
(Search for Manor Cottage.)
The Inspector agreed it was a nice little porch but said that the earlier
extensions - the house size had been increased by 86% - had “used up” all the
allowances that could be made for development in the Green Belt. The appeal was dismissed.
He did make one concession, the inspector allowed six months for the demolition and
removal of all rubble from the land.
It’s all rather silly when there was every chance a Planning Committee would
have allowed the very small and attractive extension.
Extract from Inspector’s decision. Click for full text.