Britain’s ‘most luxurious shed’ to be demolished after crossing ‘bungalow’ line
Britain's "most luxurious" shed faces demolition after councillors said it had crossed a line and become a "bungalow".
A care home put in a planning application for a "small" extension to the back garden storage building.
It was backed for approval by Solihull planning officers but condemned by members branding it an "abomination".
Cllr Richard Holt, chair of the planning committee, said: "It is not a storage shed, we are not going to be taken for being mugs in Solihull, clearly it's a bungalow."
But locals disagreed and reckoned the 3.5m tall building at the back of Longmore Nursing Home in Shirley is definitely a brick shed.
One commented: "Designer shed."
Another said: "Somebody on the council is jealous."
And a third added: "If the emergency services can’t get to it then it is not suitable to live in, so therefore it must be a shed."
A fourth reckoned: "Of course it's a shed. You don't want to keep valuable equipment in a wooden building from a garden centre."
Plans showed the existing building was 3.8m by 4.3m with proposals to make roughly three times bigger and L-shaped.
Councillors voted unanimously to refuse the restrospective application despite officials saying it was 4m away from isolating care home residents, BirminghamLive reports.
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They claimed it wouldn't "cause unacceptable harm to living conditions of neighbouring properties" at the meeting last Wednesday.
But Shirley West councillor Maggie Allen had dubbed the building "the most luxurious shed" she had seen.
Cllr Jim Ryan said photos showed features including cavity wall insulation and bricks to help with damp-proofing, adding: "That's quite expensive – that type of brickwork – for a shed."
And Cllr Diana Holl-Allen was also unimpressed, describing the development as "inappropriate full-stop".
"They've taken the Michael out of us haven't they?"
Planning officers had said that work had been carried out to extend an existing outbuilding in the grounds – which had itself been built without planning permission.
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This opens the door for the applicant being ordered to pull down what has been built, with Solihull Council having been asked to confirm the next steps in terms of enforcement action.
Eileen Ward, a trustee of a neighbouring care home, Elizabeth House, had been among those to object.
She said that until last summer two residents' rooms overlooked "attractive gardens" at No 118 but a "featureless brick wall" now blocked the view.
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"At times due to illness or infection control our elderly residents are confined to their quarters," she said.
"The windows in their rooms are the only outlook they've got to the outside world." She had urged the council to take action against the development.
Ward councillor Karen Grinsell said: "Imagine if it was you or your mother or father who was bedridden and literally confined to their bedroom with only that brick wall as their view.
"They have literally been overlooking that building site."
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