A man who spent over £30,000 on mould-proof cladding for his home has been told to tear it all down after a council ruling found it looked “highly unsympathetic”.
Tim Stephenson, who lives in Corsham in Wiltshire, said he had sleepless nights over the decision, which could leave his family once again exposed to the mould that had plagued the home for years.
Stephenson had been given planning permission 15 years ago for a large-scale renovation on his house on Pickwick Road, including an extension and a new exterior render.
Despite building the extension soon after gaining permission, it took about a decade to finally get round to completing the rendering on the house.
The council said the new cladding was "highly unsympathetic" to the area
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As part of the render, Stephenson fitted his home with a layer of insulation to ward off an ongoing damp problem and make the property more energy-efficient – but Wiltshire Council was not happy.
The council said the added layer meant “the walls project further than the eaves of the roof and the coping stones on the verges”.
It continued: “As a result of the vivid colouring, proportion and detailing, the dwelling stands out in the street scene and significantly harms the heritage assets and their setting by detracting from the dominant vernacular form.”
Though Stephenson applied for retrospective planning permission, the council vetoed his request as “highly unsympathetic” to the Corsham Conservation Area – and the Planning Inspectorate dismissed his appeals, ruling the cladding must be removed within six months.
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The home "stands out in the street scene and significantly harms the heritage assets and their setting by detracting from the dominant vernacular form" said Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council have allegedly ignored follow-up offers to change the colour and look of the cladding, and have “steadfastly refused to enter any conversation”.
Stephenson said the issue was “very stressful”, and had led to weeks in which he was “barely sleeping”.
He said: “You don’t wish to be on the wrong side of the law… We had no intention of upsetting our neighbours, the local community, or indeed anybody.”
Stephenson highlighted that the new layer of insulation had solved a mould problem with which his family had to deal for years, and said he was concerned about the impact of the mould returning on his children.
He said: “We’ve done all of the things that you do, the anti-mould treatment, frequently applied the mould-proof paint – we’d consistently failed to do anything more than keep it under control in the whole time that we’d lived here.
“My desire would be to say, well, look, we've got streets of houses like this that are all cold and damp and that are all emitting tons of carbon and they're not suitable for heat pumps as a result of their original construction - how are we collectively as a society going to solve this problem?
“My ideal outcome would be that we could sit down with the council and work out something that could be an exemplar for a design which they're happy with and which could, at the same time, point the way towards a decarbonised future.”
But Wiltshire Councillor Nick Botterill, the Cabinet Member for Development Management, said: “The issues raised by the owner of the property on Pickwick Road were all matters considered during the formal appeals process by the Planning Inspectorate who dismissed the appeals and ruled that the property should be restored to its former condition within six months.”
Stephenson is still pushing for support on the dispute, and has started a petition to pressure the council – and specifically Cllr Botterill – into working with him “on a cosmetic solution that also supports their stated aim to decarbonise”.