Sue Perkins wins battle to block pensioners' bungalow

Women In Film and Television Awards - London
Women In Film and Television Awards - London



The Great British Bake Off host Sue Perkins has won her battle to stop her neighbours building a bungalow in their garden.

Timothy and Caroline Gladstone, who are in their 80s, wanted to downsize from their five-bedroom, £3 million townhouse in London's Hampstead.

But rather than leave the area where they'd been living for 55 years, they hoped to build themselves a new one-bedroom home in the garden on the site of two old garages at the bottom of their garden.

However, Perkins, who lives next door, objected to Camden Council, calling the plans 'unconscionable'. She added that allowing residents to build in their back gardens would set a precedent by allowing back gardens to be ' turned into development opportunities'.

Around 40 other neighbours - including former Holby City actress Patricia Potter - put in similar objections.

And they have now won the battle, with the couple having been refused permission to build.

Under the government's National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), domestic gardens don't count as 'previously developed' or 'brownfield' sites, which are regarded as suitable for development.

Local authorities are also encouraged to resist 'inappropriate' development of residential gardens.

And the new bungalow, planners said, would be out of keeping with the area's character, cause parking problems and harm the living conditions of neighbouring residential occupiers.

One neighbour tells the Daily Mail that residents were delighted with the decision, adding: "You shouldn't just be able to build a bungalow in your back garden - the whole idea was ridiculous really, and thanks to Sue and all the others, the council has seen sense and refused the application."


Hampstead, with its leafy avenues and well-heeled residents, sees more than its fair share of planning battles.

Last year, Tom Conti put his home in Hampstead on the market, saying he hated the way the neighbourhood had changed. "This used to be a wonderful place to live, but in the past ten years there's been endless, endless building," he complained.

The Gladstones have been told they can appeal against the decision.



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