'Unstable' house pulled down without planning permission
AN ENGINEER was so concerned that the wind would bring down the walls of a stripped house that the structure was pulled down without planning permission.
Now FGR Property Ltd has applied for retrospective planning permission to demolish and rebuild the property.
Permission had been given for Inchfad, Route des Bas Courtils, St Saviour’s, near The Farmhouse, to be stripped. However, the existing structure of the building had to be retained.
An archaeology team also inspected the area before work commenced because La Houque Fouque – a small mound which is a protected monument – sits at the rear of the site.
As work got under way however, the client became concerned about the stability of the remaining walls. An engineer from CBL Ltd assessed the work and considered the unrestrained gable walls to be unstable and, because the site was exposed, had concerns that strong winds could cause them to collapse.
Previous badly executed attempts to underpin the walls were found to have undermined the original foundations of the building. The engineer recommended reconstruction of the formal foundations with new fully bonded masonry walls rather than working with the existing walls, which he said should be removed.
The area was cordoned off.
Jason Hobbs from Architectural Services acted as the agent for the project. Architectural Services emailed the Planning Service on the morning of demolition to explain the situation and confirm that an application for the demolition and reconstruction would follow. Building Control was also contacted. However, Planning had already received a complaint and the project had become an enforcement team matter.
It was agreed with the Planning Service that concrete could be poured for the foundations at the client’s risk, but that any further work would result in an interim compliance notice being issued.
The retrospective application for the demolition and rebuild has now been received by Planning Services and Mr Hobbs said the application follows identical design, location, appearance, mass and size of the existing approval with one modification being disabled access.
The planning application can be viewed at Sir Charles Frossard House.
