NHS consultant, 48, faces D-Day in fight to save his ‘monstrosity’ £1m home that neighbours say ‘sticks out like a sore thumb’ after he pulled down bungalow and replaced it with the ‘mini-hotel’
- Dr Manoj Srivastava, 48, could have to tear down the two-storey house
- He built it to replace a bungalow that had occupied the site in Milton Keynes
- Some neighbours in the leafy suburb blasted the building as a ‘mini-hotel’
- Dr Srivastava is appealing to a planning inquiry to prevent its demolition
An NHS consultant was today facing D-Day in his fight to save his ‘monstrosity’ of a £1million house that neighbours say ‘sticks out like a sore thumb’.
Dr Manoj Srivastava, 48, could have to tear down the new build two-storey mansion – which he built on the site of a bungalow – because it is larger than the plans Milton Keynes Council approved.
Some neighbours in the leafy suburb of Willen in Milton Keynes, Bucks., claim the building ‘stuck out like a sore thumb’ and looked like a ‘mini-hotel.’
Dr Srivastava is appealing to a planning inquiry after the council rejected a retrospective planning application designed to sort out the issue.
Neighbours insist the house (pictured above) ‘sticks out like a sore thumb’ and should be raised to the ground
The entrance gates to the property were also found to be wider than approved and there was deviation from the materials, size and position of doors and windows
The consultant radiologist has also appealed to the government Planning Inspectorate after the council slapped an enforcement notice on the building in Portland Drive, ordering the property be altered to its original plans.
The three-day planning inquiry, which opened on Tuesday, is being overseen by council barrister David Forsdick QC.
Dr Manoj Srivastava (pictured) faces angry calls to demolish his two-storey mansion
The Willen Residents’ Group is also represented at the three-day virtual hearing, where they are arguing that enforcement action is not tough enough – and have called for demolition.
But Mr Forsdick said the inquiry is not to discuss whether the council has gone far enough. The barrister said that the question is harm, and how it compares to the planning permission that Mr Srivastava had been initially given.
Dr Srivastava was originally given planning consent by Milton Keynes Council to demolish and then enlarge his single storey home in Portland Drive in 2017.
However it later emerged the new building has deviated from the approved designs.
It has a floor area 22sqm (4.9 per cent) bigger than permitted and a steeper roof which features a 46-degree pitch, rather than the approved 33-degree pitch.
Mr Forsdick said that the eventual building had more space in the roof than an average three-bed home.
It also emerged that builders had deviated from the approved front elevation design and had a bigger than permitted garage.
The entrance gates to the property were also found to be wider than approved and there was deviation from the materials, size and position of doors and windows.
Following planning permission and building, Mr Srivastava had applied for partly retrospective permission for what was eventually built.
The home of Dr Srivastava in Milton Keynes which faces being knocked down after it was built without the correct permissions
Planning documents (pictured above) show the proposed plans on the property
The map above shows the site where the property was built in Milton Keynes
Councillors threw that application out and launched enforcement action.
And some neighbours have been left so angry they have called for the house to be completely demolished.
One neighbour, Fran Branfield, said at a previous planning meeting last year that the house ‘sticks out like a sore thumb’.
She said: ‘It does not look like a home and in fact looks more like a commercial property which does not sit well within the surrounding homes.
‘It is extremely large and imposing in a negative way. Unlike most other houses in the Willen district, which sit comfortably in the landscape and have a continuity of materials, proportion and style, this property sticks out like a sore thumb and could well be a mini-hotel or office building.’
But Mr Forsdick said at the opening of the planning inquiry on Tuesday that the council’s position is to make the situation acceptable, and demolition is ‘not justified.’
And Dr Srivistava’s barrister, Clare Parry QC, noted that enforcement is meant to be remedial, not to punish.
The inquiry continues.