Paul Hollywood has plan to build kitchen garden for filming rejected by local council

Great British Bake Off star Paul Hollywood’s plans to build a walled kitchen garden at his Grade II-listed home in Kent have been rejected.

The famous baker and his wife, who bought the Ashford farmhouse for £810,000 in 2019, had designed the garden for a “temporary shoot”.

Their proposals included demolishing the property’s conservatory to make way for open-plan space. But Ashford Borough Council assessed the plans would not constitute a “sympathetic or appropriate addition” to the historic residence.

The rejection document stated that the “scale, volume, design and massification” of the plans would “diminish” the existing “private interest” of the property.

The extension would be faced in Flemish bond brick with plain clay, would accommodate a kitchen-dining area, and the plans also included the removal of the existing kitchen.

A kitchen-garden with a veranda on the outside, raised beds and a brick wall connecting to the extension were then proposed.

The first proposal read: “The proposed extension is needed for temporary filming by the owner of the house, Paul Hollywood, a well-known television personality and celebrity chef.

“The existing kitchen is not large enough and is too narrow for filming; the cameras cannot be adjusted to provide the necessary shots.

“On the other hand, the proposed kitchen extension would provide suitable space for these purposes.

“The space will allow the unique documentary about Paul Hollywood’s cooking to be filmed from home.

“This will provide an engaging and enhanced experience for audiences, with the chef in his own familiar environment.”

They also argued the plans were “essential” to “meet today’s standards of a larger four-bedroom house”.

To overturn the decision, Hollywood will have to go through the council’s appeal process.