Childrey villager demands apology from parish councillors who accused him of 'wanton vandalism' (From Herald Series)

Childrey villager demands apology from parish councillors who accused him of 'wanton vandalism'

9:00am Thursday 9th July 2009

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A MAN who has finished rebuilding his Childrey home said he deserved an apology after parish councillors described the demolition as “wanton vandalism”.

In 2005, Gareth Chalmers and wife Nicola bought Penn House, in Dog Lane, to renovate the property.

In 2007, planning officers gave outline permission to demolish an adjoining barn and to replace the front, south and east walls of the building and roof.

The entire building, apart from its north wall, was taken down.

As soon as Mr Chalmers started the project, parish councillors claimed he had ignored public concern.

Vale planning officers considered taking legal action against him because of an alleged breach of planning regulations.

Mr Chalmers, 55, said: “It was not an act of wanton vandalism. This is completely untrue. It was green-eyed people interfering with other people’s affairs.

“The Vale gave me planning permission to do what I did.

“No one spoke to me about their concerns.

“Now I have regular knocks on the door from people in Childrey telling me what a good job I have done and how beautiful the house looks.”

The district council’s lawyers looked into the matter, but said no further action was necessary.

Mr Chalmers said it took four years from the day of purchase to complete the project because of complaints to the Vale council.

At one point, the council sought an injunction to halt work.

Mr Chalmers, who has lived in Childrey for 26 years, moved into the four-bedroom detached property last month from a five-bedroom home in Stow Hill.

He added: “As soon as we took the roof off, it was rotten. Villagers had been saying for some years that it would need taking down and building from scratch.”

Penn House had been a post office and had a detached bakery on the site — which has been knocked down and replaced with a one-bedroom annex.

Mr Chalmers said: “I have tried to rebuild to be in keeping with the village. I would like an apology. I think this would be the right thing to do.”

The property was this year shortlisted in the best small housing development category of the Local Authority Building Control Central Building Excellence Awards.

Jane Shaw, landlady of the Hatchet Inn, said: “It looks absolutely lovely. I think it’s in keeping with the rest of the village.”

A spokesman for the Vale council said: “When we were told about the demolition, our planning enforcement officers visited the site and asked for any work to be stopped as further applications had to be made to the council. The applications were received, consent was granted and the work started again.

“We had a duty to investigate this, especially as it is in a designated conservation area, which must be protected.”

Parish council chairman Hugo Marsh said: “The parish council is as pleased as anybody that the resulting building does now sit harmoniously in the village conservation area.”

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