Mansion keeps garden house built without approval

The owner of a £4m mansion can keep a garden house built without planning permission, councillors have decided.

The steel and glass structure on the grounds of Otterbrook, in Churchtown near Southport, was added to the bungalow before the owner made an application.

Planning committee members at West Lancashire Council said they "reluctantly" approved a retrospective bid for permission rather than face a potentially costly appeal.

The committee heard complaints the garden house had been built too close to a neighbour's home and that it would be a "year-round entertainment facility".

Neighbour Martin Sayer said his own dream home had "become a nightmare".

He said Otterbrook was now on sale for £4m, and was "described as offering unparalleled outdoor living space that can be enjoyed all year round".

"This is what we are concerned about," Mr Sayer said.

"Now it has been fitted with multi-media equipment, we fear it will be used for parties and groups."

Other retrospective applications at the mansion had been approved on appeal, he added.

Several councillors raised concerns about noise, access and the potential impact on wildlife.

Council planning manager Steven Faulkner said: "If neighbours have concerns about noise or disturbance, their contact routes would be the police or statutory organisations.

"However, if councillors have concerns about the building, they can express them in planning terms.

"But concerns must not be based on speculative issues."

Councillor Andy Fowler said he would "reluctantly" pass the application.

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