A homeowner said he was left 'baffled' after he was told to tear down his summer house. Andrew Causley became embroiled in an 18-month dispute with his neighbour over the build in his back garden.
The 59-year-old was reported to his local council. He sought retrospective planning permission from Exeter City Council after he replaced a children's playhouse in the corner of his garden with the construction earlier this year.
The summer house, the second of two on his property, had cost thousands of pounds to build, he said, and was tucked out of sight from neighbours and passers-by, the Mirror reports.
But he had almost no time to enjoy the tiny hideaway, he claims, before he was dragged into a long dispute with a neighbour he had a cordial relationship for decades.
Mr Causley said he was "baffled" after being served an enforcement notice by the council to remove the structure - built to replace a Wendy House of the same size that had been there for 25 years. The wooden structure was put up 18 months ago to replace the ageing playhouse on the same spot after it started to leak.
The homeowner and his wife Julie Causley, 60, said they were handed the notice after one neighbour, former Exeter City councillor Stephen Warwick, said he "didn't like it" and objected. Mr Causley said he would fight the decision as far as he could, and blasted the council for its "heavy-handed" approach.
He said: "It is no bigger than what was there before, but the playhouse started letting in water a couple of years ago. We paid £150 for it and wanted it to be like an old cottage design. We replaced it over two weeks and used the same concrete base. We painted it the same colour as the front door and thought it was in keeping with the surroundings.
"Next thing we know we had a complaint and things have gone crazy from there. We just thought it was a replacement and no big deal. It is just a different wooden structure." Andrew and Julie said the saga has so far cost them around £3k, and they believe the council has spent even more. Exeter City Council said it couldn't comment on the case as it was "active".
Mr Causley was also shocked that his longtime neighbour had reported him, telling the Daily Mail: "We haven't had a cross word with him in 30 years but he just came over and said I'm a councillor, I don't object but somebody else might. I said they won't because nobody apart from you can see it, if you don't object then there's no issue. Then he wrote to the council themselves to report it."
He added he has been told it was the first enforcement notice served by the council in three years. He said: "This isn't part of any long-running neighbour dispute. We have had no issues with the neighbour before and have lived next to them for 35 years, but they just decided they didn't like it.
"He is entitled to complain and do what he wants - we just think it's ridiculous the council has upheld it. This is absolutely over the top, heavy-handed bureaucracy. They have dished out maximum punishment, and we are the only people in three years to face that from Exeter City Council. For a little summer house in a garden."
"It has caused a lot of grief. We asked if there was anything we could do. Could we change the design to come to an amicable agreement? But it was just 'the neighbour doesn't it, we don't want to discuss it.' They just want us to take it down. You can literally only see the tip of the roof anyway and it is not visible from the road. They are not even responding to offers to meet them.
"It's just such a waste of tax-payers money. It's bizarre they don't want to deal with it in an amicable fashion." Andrew and Julie were told the retrospective application was refused by the council for being 'out of character' with the house and "inconsistent with the street scene."
They are now appealing against the enforcement notice. Andrew added: "We built the playhouse in the garden 25 years ago when the children were born. It was two storey, a substantial size, then we replaced it last year with this like-for-like structure with the same footprint. It's actually lower as it has a slightly different roof, but one of the neighbours objected. There has been no negotiation or mediation. It is very heavy-handed."
"There has been something there for 25 years. We were asked to provide proof so I sent over all the photos showing it in the same dimension in the same corner of the garden. It is ridiculous. A lot of the gardens here now are parking. People have dug up lawns for their cars. We are one of the last houses with our original garden as opposed to just concreting it over. It is a haven for wildlife and I could not believe we wouldn't be allowed it."
In his public objection to the planning submission, Mr Warwick said structures already built have caused "caused loss of vegetation", and forced him to gravel his garden. He said: "On Easter Sunday 31st March 2024 Mr Causley approached me and asked me if it would be ok if he built a summer house at the site where he had recently removed a wooden child's Wendy house in his front garden.
"I advised Mr Causley strongly, acting in my capacity as a City Councillor and advising a constituent that he would probably need to get planning permission to build in his front garden. In subsequent conversations with Mr and Mrs Causley I made it plain to them that I had no authority to give them permission to build in the front garden and that I had checked with the planning officers and the advice that I had previously given them regarding planning permission was correct."
"I also advised them that they should contact the Exeter City Planning Officers for advice. The structures already built have caused loss of vegetation along the boundary and this has led to a strip of our garden having to be gravelled all the way from the rear boundary to a third of the way down the front garden approximately. It is appreciated from experience that compared to other developments across the City of Exeter this is small beer, however it does have the potential to have an impact on neighbouring properties and their occupants."
Inside the summerhouse are just two wicker sofas with no connected electricity. Andrew said it had to be located where it was to capture the sun. He added: "By the time we get home from work, we get the evening sun there. It is the last sun in the garden. We will take it a far as we can.
"If we have to go to court we will and fight it all the way. It is just baffling how this could end up getting so far." Julie added: "The Wendy House was the same footprint and fits on the same plot.
"We like to feed birds, have hedgehog houses and turn our garden into a lovely little country haven. If we asked for planning permission to have that all taken away and create car parking for six cars they would allow it. But we can't keep a little wooden structure in the corner of our garden. It just seems ridiculous."