The owners of five £1million luxury mansions who face seeing their dream homes demolished after they were built ‘too big and in the wrong place’ claim that the developers have ‘disappeared’, an inquiry heard.
Elan Raja and Alison Thompson are among the homeowners who have been embroiled in a feud with Bolton Council over the last five years after being told their houses would have to be torn down.
A planning inquiry heard on Monday how Sparkle Developments was given planning permission to build five luxury homes in August 2014.
The six-bedroom, stone-built exclusive houses were built on a stunning plot in the West Pennine moors near Bolton, Lancashire.
But finishing works were put on hold after a complaint was filed in October 2016, and Bolton Council found the houses were not being built in accordance with the planning permission.
The inquiry heard how plot one on the site had a 31 per cent bigger footprint than allowed, plot two was 19 per cent bigger, plot three 32 per cent bigger and plot four 33 per cent bigger.
The local authority first issued an enforcement notice to flatten the entire development in 2018 following an impasse with developers Sparkle Developments.
The appeal claims the enforcement notice issued by the council to demolish the homes was excessive and too harsh to remedy any breach in planning regulations.
Mr Raja also claimed the developers have not contributed any costs or advice as of February 2020 despite the mess they find themselves in.
MailOnline graphic shows where the homes were built in a red outline along with blue shading to point out where two of the mansions should have been erected (pictured in 2019)
An aerial shot shows the site where five £1million luxury mansions could be demolished after they were built in the wrong places and are too big (pictured in 2019)
The six-bedroom, stone-built exclusive houses were built on a stunning plot in the West Pennine moors near Bolton, Lancashire, but finishing works were put on hold after a complaint was filed in October 2016 (pictured still unfinished in 2019)
Mr Raja said he paid £1,057,000 for the plot in 2016 and claims he has now spent more than £215,000 on the rental of an alternative property and other costs.
He said he has suffered from severe stress and anxiety coping with the immense demands of the matter and had suffered cardiac problems as a result of the ‘nightmare’.
He told the inquiry he had launched litigation against the developer but ‘they had disappeared’ and refused to take responsibility for ‘what they have done’.
Mr Raja said: ‘It has had life changing consequences for me. I feel trapped in a vicious circle with deepening financial pressures and effects on my family.
‘Every day feels like I’m waking up to a nightmare. The best way to describe it is a pressure cooker.
The buildings, known as Grundy Fold, had been put in different positions on the development than those agreed and some were bigger than permitted (pictured in 2019)
Bolton Council planning committee decided the houses were still too big and far away from each other and also ruled that it represented inappropriate development within a prominent green belt site (pictured in 2019)
The above graphic shows how the plots have been built. The black lines show how they should have been built and the dotted light blue lines show the current building dimensions. The dotted dark blue lines show the locations of the previous buildings on the site with the red line showing previously approved locations for the homes
‘Sparkle Developments refuse to take responsibility for what they have done.
‘I can understand if one house was wrong but not the whole development. We’ve had endless meetings with the council to try and sort out the situation.
‘We have tried to work out a reasonable solution. We thought by working with the planning officers we had some chance.
‘It’s taken four years but despite doing whatever it takes we’re still faced with uncertain challenges.’
Mr Raja claimed he was told planning permission was in place when he bought the mansion in 2016.
But he has claimed the developers have not contributed any costs or advice as of February 2020 despite the mess they find themselves in.
Planning permission was originally granted in August 2014 for five houses at the site, but the mansions were built bigger, in different places and facing in different directions to the initially agreed scheme (pictured in 2019)
The floor plan for plot 4 (above) which has been built in the other direction and several feet away from where the council gave permission
He said: ‘I was informed when I bought the house in 2016 that planning permission was in place.
‘I was content to leave matters to the developers and architects.
‘I assumed the development was being carried out according to consent.’
In March 2017, a retrospective planning application was submitted to retain the homes as they were built, but this was refused by the planning committee in June.
Four months later, another application was submitted to retain the five dwellings.
Following discussions between Sparkle Developments and the council’s planning department, the developer was told the application could only be recommended for approval if it involved selective demolition and re-siting of some of the houses.
This overhead aerial view shows how the site is littered with building supplies in 2019 after the construction was suddenly halted
A planning document shows the proposed elevation for plot 3 which planning officers deemed had been built away from its permitted site
This compromise was rejected by the developer, who decided to press on with the planning application instead.
This second application to retain the five dwellings was refused by the planning committee in May 2018.
Then, in the summer of the same year, the council served the developer with an enforcement notice which required the developer to demolish all homes within six months.
Alison Thompson, who owns plot five at the Grundy Fold, also told the inquiry she bought the plot in 2016 for more than £900,000.
Mrs Thompson said Sparkle Developments did not inform her of any problems with the development even though they had been made aware by Bolton Council of issues with the size, position and landscaping of the homes.
Mrs Thompson and her husband sold their existing home in Bolton and their second home in Bowness in the Lake District to fund their purchase of the mansion.
An aerial photograph shows how the houses remain partially finished after construction was halted by Bolton planning officers (pictured in 2019)
The local authority first issued an enforcement notice to flatten the entire development last year following an impasse with the developers Sparkle Developments (pictured in 2019)
They had then moved into rented accommodation while waiting to move into their dream home.
Mrs Thompson claimed that they had requested for a smaller house to be built than what was eventually in the plans.
She said at that time the family took no legal advice as they believed the developer was compliant with the plans.
Mrs Thompson added that the first she heard of any issues was when she saw a report of the enforcement action in her local newspaper.
She said the impact had been ‘overwhelming’ both emotionally and financially on her family.
Council representative Ian Ponter said the only planning permission for Mrs Thompson’s property was to extend and refurbish the farmhouse.
He said the farmhouse was then completely demolished and the Thompson family had an input on the design of the new house.
Mr Ponter said: ‘You must have known that what was being built was not the same as the 2014 permission?’
She agreed with that but said she was not a planning expert and trusted the house was being properly and legally built by the developers and architects.
She said she had not acted ‘unreasonably’.
Legal representative for the householders, Killian Garvey, told the inquiry the appellants’ lives had been upended for the last four years.
But Mr Ponter told the inquiry the development was ‘harmful to the landscape’.
He said: ‘The scheme was a hamlet around a courtyard. That design was important given the site’s location in the greenbelt and the rural nature.
‘That was bought by Sparkle Developments who then sold the plots individually. Development got underway in 2016 and was a significant departure from the consent given in 2014.
‘The farmhouse was demolished and five homes were built over a wider area. We say that is harmful to the landscape.’
Ward councillor Bob Allen, who has been on the planning committee for ten years, said he supported the refusal of the proposed development.
He said: ‘The area is characterised by open fields, moorlands, isolated cottages, farms and golf courses.
‘The local authority has acted entirely within its powers to call a halt to a development out of line with the plans.
‘The authority has been tolerant in extending the deadline for enforcement. To retain what is built has been refused given the magnitude of difference in size and locations.
‘Every new application for houses since 2014 has been refused. The latest application does not get close to the courtyard type development originally approved.’
The four-day inquiry continues.