A PROJECT to rebuild two cottages in Monxton following a devastating thatch fire four years ago has been met with ‘infuriating’ barriers from the council, the project manager has said.

The Grade II listed buildings on the village’s High Street were destroyed in the fire in March 2018, which saw 70 firefighters tackle the blaze.

Since then, Marcus Tebbutt-Ford - who owns Westwell Cottage but currently lives in Switzerland - and Giles Hargreave - who bought Well Cottage to rebuild and rent or sell - have been trying to rebuild the properties, in as close a likeness to the originals as possible.

READ MORE: More than 70 firefighters deal with thatched roof fire

Freelance project manager in development, Martin Cathcart-Jones, has spoken of the struggle the team has had in progressing their efforts, claiming that Test Valley Borough Council has blocked progress with “ridiculous” conditions at multiple hurdles.

“We spent a year fighting TVBC to get permission to knock them down, because there was nothing left to work with. It took us a year, and our intent was just to rebuild something more or less like it was before,” he said.

“The conservation officer still blocked us, but we managed to get the planning officer to agree. But then we got a lot of conditions. Some of them were absolutely ridiculous.”

Due to the fire, the owners didn’t want the properties to be thatched again, so the team went back to officers with a planning application for it to be changed from thatch to tile.

“We cited three similar examples in the village, where they have given permission to it before,” said Martin.

“But the conservation officer said no, and they have now unleashed a planning enforcement on us to stop us from building anything.”

Martin admitted that not every condition was met immediately or in the exact way TVBC had requested, but added: “We felt the conservation officer had been asking for ridiculous things.

“I understand they have a job to do and they need to protect historic buildings, but it seems to be preservation at any cost.”

He gave examples including the request of a detailed method statement on how each element of the houses would be knocked down; and instructions that a structure should be built around a historic water pump on the site, to protect it, instead of allowing them to store the pump safely elsewhere.

He continued: “The planning officers have been an absolute nightmare and we are waiting for the next ridiculous thing that they are going to ask us for.

“We are kind of getting desperate - the owner who lives in Switzerland has been paying a mortgage for four years without a house! They don’t have loads of money to be paying for experts to give expert opinions on everything.

“We have neighbour support, and parish council support, but it all boils down to the conservation officer. We have dealt with outstanding conditions when they have become pertinent, but it takes [TVBC] too long to come back to us on things.”

Martin says that, in his own communication with the council’s planning team, he was promised “flexibility and sympathy” and that has not been the case.

“We have been deserted when we were promised help,” he said.

“We are finally getting to a point where we were building something that is almost exactly the same as what was there before and it’s infuriating.

“They’ve just not done anything to be helpful.”

READ MORE: Thatched cottages in Monxton destroyed in devastating blaze

A spokesperson for Test Valley Borough Council said: “Planning applications linked to listed buildings are often complex, particularly if they are not like-for-like replacements, and we have sought to provide support to the applicant throughout. We do have to follow a set process, which isn’t there to act as a barrier but is instead there to ensure that any new development meets the standards required.

“It is really important that these cottages are in keeping with the surrounding area and are in line with the planning permission granted. If that is not the case then we will ask the developer to stop work while they iron out any issues.

“We are keen to work with the applicant to make sure they can continue to move things forward as quickly as possible and we have asked them to submit the required information for consideration.”

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