Families living in a row of million-dollar homes that inspired author PG Wodehouse are furious over a huge new house that was allegedly built without planning permission.
Earlier this year, angry residents were warned to stop bombarding parish councilors with abusive phone calls over an “unsightly” new development on Wodehouse Road in the leafy coastal village of Old Hunstanton in Norfolk.
Now the owners of The White Cottage, formerly run as a seaside guest house, are applying for retrospective planning permission for the new three-storey building they have built on the site.
At a planning meeting on December 2, planning officers recommended councilors vote ‘yes’ despite a flood of fresh objections from fellow homeowners and the parish council.
Houses on Wodehouse Road often change hands for more than a million pounds.
Its namesake, Jeeves creator PG Wodehouse, was a regular visitor to the town in the 1920s and 1930s and stayed at Hunstanton Hall, home of his friend Charles le Strange in the 1920s.
Hall itself is set in its own green grounds and at the end of the driveway is The Clock Tower, a grade two listed moated coach house built in 1876, which last sold for £1.7 million.
The current dispute began in 2022, when construction began on a house on Wodehouse Road, not far from the beach, on the site of the previous cottage, which was demolished.
Families living on Millionaire’s Row, a row of PG Wodehouse-inspired houses, have been furious to see a new house on their street.
They claim the property had been built in breach of planning permission and complained it was a three-storey house rather than two (pictured: planning plans).
Villagers complained that it had been built as a three-storey house, rather than two, as they believed it should have been, and bombarded West Norfolk Council with objections that it was “too big and too tall”.
The parish council also objects, claiming there may have been breaches of the original planning permission.
An objection from the parish council stated: “The gaps have led to the existence of a building which appears to be too large and tall for its land and the surrounding dwellings and which directly impacts on the light and privacy of the immediate neighbors and is regarded as an eyesore within the local neighborhood in general.
The owners have been applying through agents and have so far only been identified in planning documents as Mr and Mrs H Middleton, from Lincolnshire.
The Middletons deny breaching planning conditions and say the home was always approved as a three-storey house.
They only admit that “slight modifications” have been made to the balcony and windows, as well as an additional basement.
The building is on the west side of Hamilton Road at the junction with Wodehouse Road in Old Hunstanton.
The site lies within the Old Hunstanton development boundary and outside the Old Hunstanton Conservation Area, and also outside the Norfolk Coast National Landscape.
The Middletons are seeking retroactive consent to amend the original plans for the approved development in 2023. The cottage has already been razed and the replacement building is largely completed.
The application has sparked fresh backlash from residents, but planning officer Connor Smalls is recommending approval.
The parish council also objects, claiming there may have been breaches of the original planning permission.
Mr Smalls said: ‘Contrary to the objections raised, the original approved application was always for a three-storey building: basement (partially submerged), ground floor and first floor. The downstairs bedroom addition utilizes existing void space that already existed as part of the home’s foundation.
‘This has not involved any additional excavation, has not resulted in any change to the structural configuration of the home and has made no difference to the external appearance of the property as a whole.
“Due to the partially submerged nature of this room, there are no views to any neighboring properties.”
But Old Hunstanton Parish Council objects: “Local residents and neighbors are opposed, and the planner should hold the applicant to the initially agreed plans, particularly for a two-storey building rather than a three-storey one.” plants, which a visit to the place indicates that it is, and, in general.’
Locals say attempts to downplay the development have involved little more than planting plants to protect it.
Neighbor Dawn Brooke objected: ‘The barbecue area is not very high on its side which shows they can look straight into our kitchen window, side door, hallway and back garden. Plants are not the answer.
‘To add insult to injury, after trying everything the council rejected, their response is to simply cover it with plants. But they still have a three-storey throwback house, amazing.’
Locals also claim that the house built in 2023 is even larger than the plans rejected the previous year for being too big.
Objector Michael Oldham added: ‘A culture of non-compliance and disregard for planning rules and laws has hung over White Cottage since the first application in 2022 was rejected on multiple grounds, including size.
“The building constructed in 2023/2024, which incorporates large areas of unapproved construction, may prove to be a larger building than the proposal rejected in 2022.”