OAPs win planning battle against banker knocking down home 9 inches from theirs | UK | News

An OAP couple have won their battle to stop a wealthy fund manager from demolishing a neighboring house and rebuilding it as a luxury holiday home.

Pensioners David Wells, 92, and his wife Ivy, 87, are separated from their next-door neighbour, council fund manager Naomi Clark, by a party wall just 20cm thick.

Ms Clark, USS’s head of investment products management, has caused a backlash at Burnham Market in Norfolk over her plans to transform the property.

But yesterday (December 1) West Norfolk County Council rejected the plans on the grounds that they involved an ‘unacceptable risk to health, safety and welfare arising directly from demolition’.

A delighted David said: “We are so delighted we can finally get a good night’s sleep!

“I hope this is the end of it, we couldn’t take this nonsense anymore, this was all too much for Ivy and me.”

Burnham Market is nicknamed “Chelsea-on-Sea”; the name makes it a base for second homes due to its popularity among wealthy Londoners.

A report presented to West Norfolk’s planning committee earlier this month concluded that demolition and rebuilding would be ‘the preferred option for bringing the property fully up to modern building standards’.

But the borough council decided Wells would be a ‘significant and disproportionate interference’ with ‘respect for home and privacy’.

Rebuilding will ‘disrupt’, committee says [the Wells’] able to occupy their homes safely and comfortably” and that they were “not satisfied that the impacts could be adequately mitigated”.

Almost 450 objections were lodged by angry residents who said the couple ‘should be allowed to live their lives peacefully and stress-free in their home’.

The couple’s granddaughter, Amy Nelligan, added: “We are delighted and so grateful to the council for voting for common sense and human decency.

“In the planning they said it was a heart-to-head affair, but actually both the head and the heart won the day.

“Trying to demolish half of a semi-detached double was always a ludicrous idea, especially when separated by a single 9-inch brick wall.

“It was absolutely inhumane to put an elderly and vulnerable couple through such a long and dangerous process.

“These last two months have been really tough, especially for David and Ivy. We can all finally get a good night’s sleep.

“It really felt like the battle of David and Goliath.”

A council officer’s report acknowledges that Mr and Mrs Wells, who lived at Number 12, feared noise, vibration and dust from the demolition and rebuilding would seriously affect their health, causing stress, anxiety and loss of sleep.

But an engineer’s report noted that Ms. Clark’s home had “structural deficiencies, including slight weaknesses in the roof, some bowing and cracks in the walls.”

Ms Clark, who hopes to replace the property with a four-bedroom house, has vowed to do what she can to minimize disruption to the Wellses.

Ms Clark previously said: “Whilst we are saddened by how this narrative has played out online, we look forward to being fully involved in the planning process and will do everything we can to minimize disruption to our neighbors during the estimated nine-month construction period.”

Burnham Market District Council also objected, saying: “Demolishing half the building would risk serious damage to the neighboring house.

“An independent investigation commissioned by neighbors found no evidence of structural instability, indicating there is no structural necessity for demolition.”

The luxury seaside village near Wells has previously become a battleground for second homes and holiday lets before locals voted for a neighborhood plan stating that any new development must be a permanent home.

The meeting heard Ms Clark could appeal the decision.