A COMMUNITY has united to oppose plans to destroy a garden by building a five bedroom mansion on it.
Earlier this year developer Stuart Brazill bought a plot of land which once formed part of a garden in the leafy cul de sac of Grasmere Close in Loughton.
He submitted plans to build a five bedroom mansion on the land but neighbours claimed the house would dwarf their own and obliterate the green space that borders one side of the street.
The development is part of a trend, as across the country developers have bought up patches of garden and green spaces in urban areas and built houses on them, taking advantage of legislation which classified gardens as brownfield sites, or “previously residential land,” which have less restrictive planning laws than Greenfield, or previously undeveloped sites.
Last year gardens were reclassified as greenfield sites, giving local authorities greater powers to block developments on them.
Mr Brazill’s original plans were rejected by the council on the grounds that the development would be overwhelming and out of keeping with the street’s other houses, with no reference to the garden being a greenfield site.
Now Mr Brazill has submitted revised plans for a home on the land, and residents feel powerless to act.
Liam Learmmouth, 48, lives opposite the site of the proposed development with his family.
He said: “I appreciate that there is a shortage of properties, but I am in support of legislation to protect this kind of site. We had some lovely trees there that have all been cut down.
“We would just be left looking at this whacking great house every day.”
His wife, Deborah Learmouth, 45, said: “The dimension of the new house are exactly the same. It would be totally dominating. It is not similar to the other houses on the street.
“It would be like the manor house and we would be the cottages, it is just too big.”
Violet George, 84, lives next to the site of the proposed development.
She said: “like the seclusion of this corner. He would have to take down my fence to build it and I do not want to lose my fence.”
The developer’s agent, Martyn Pattie, said: “When a lot of the houses down there were built it was normal to have long gardens. There is a greater emphasis on density of development now.
“I understand the resident’s concerns but it is a nice house and when finished would complete the cul de sac make it in to an even more attractive area.”
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