Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright’s £1.3m dream home is ‘criticised by the local council as they deem their plans “too large” after new application’
Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright’s £1.3m dream home has reportedly been criticised by the local council after they deemed their new plans ‘too large’.
The couple have demolished a farmhouse and are building a five-bedroom family house in Essex with a lavish outdoor swimming pool, bar, gym and even a make-up room.
Yet despite their original planning application being approved last year, the local council has now reportedly objected to their redesigned plans after the couple submitted a new application.
‘Criticised’: Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright’s £1.3m dream home has reportedly been criticised by the local council after they deemed their new plans ‘too large’ (pictured in 2016)
The Sun claims that the Parish Council wrote on January 4: ‘At the time of the original applications, the Parish Council considers the impact the proposed new dwelling would have on the green belt, and whilst it was felt that the dwelling itself would represent a much grander and greater dwelling than the original dwelling, the demolition of the associated cart lodge was also taken into account.
‘For these reasons, the council did not object to the application, albeit some concern was raised that the property was perhaps rather large and potentially out of keeping with the rural setting.
‘This new amended application further increases the size of the dwelling, and the Parish Council feels that these proposed changes increase the size of the dwelling over the original dwelling size to such a degree that it would, for reasons of its bulk and size, now represent an unacceptable increase and as such have a detrimental impact on the green belt.’
The letter ended with the Parish Council claiming that they ‘object’ to the proposal on ‘this basis’.
MailOnline has contacted both Michelle and Mark’s representatives for comment.
Plans: The couple have demolished a farmhouse and are building a five-bedroom family house in Essex with a lavish outdoor swimming pool, bar, gym and even a make-up room (Mark pictured demolishing the property over the summer)
Before: The couple bought the property for £1.3 million in October 2019 (pictured before their home renovation plans)
It comes after the couple’s plans to make their dream family home a fortress was criticised by two local councils in November.
At the time, Mark and Michelle put in a new planning application to make the estate more secure by surrounding it with a ‘rendered wall’ between 1.8 metres and 2.1 metres high.
Both Epping Forest District Council and Stanford Rivers Parish Council hit out at the ‘inappropriate’ plans claiming they’re not in keeping with the tone of the ‘rural area’ and they would have to cut down trees to make way for the wall.
On one side of the property, there’s a public right of way, which would be blocked, according to the objections.
Dream home: The TV couple want to replace it with a sprawling Georgian-style mansion
Objection: Yet despite their original planning application being approved last year, the local council has now reportedly objected to their redesigned plans after the couple submitted a new application
Epping Forest District Council wrote: ‘This site is in a very rural area, on a minor country lane.
‘Whilst we accept that the existing conifer screen could be considered to be incongruous within this setting, to replace it with a 2.1metre high rendered wall would be totally out of keeping, and fail to enhance the rural landscape setting.
‘None of the other properties on this lane have such inappropriate boundary treatments.
‘Additionally, we note that the wall on the right hand side of the proposed entrance is within trees.
‘The trees and woodland are protected by a woodland tree preservation order, therefore tree reports should have been submitted to support the proposal… potentially resulting in loss or damage to important tree assets.
‘Our records also show a Public Right of Way, and a check of the Definitive Public Rights of Way map on Essex County Council website, confirms that there have been not alterations to its route.
‘To build the walls as proposed it would block access to this right of way.’
The parish council were equally scathing about the plans, stating: ‘The Parish Council OBJECTS to this application.
‘The design of the height walls, together with the pillars and the gates, are out of keeping with the rural setting, and would detract from the rural nature of this particular area of the Parish.
More plans: It comes after the couple’s plans to make their dream family home a fortress was criticised by two local councils in November (pictured in 2019)
‘In addition, a public footpath currently runs through this property, and whilst we understand there may be possible applications to alter this in the future, we could not at this time support a planning application which would effectively block a public right of way.’
Both councils had no objection to them adding a wooden gate with rendered piers.
The former TOWIE star and Corrie actress have also put in an application for a Hollywood-style paver driveway with a roundabout for their fleet of cars.
They also want bi-folding doors for all the windows on the ground floor at the rear, so that the whole house opens out to the pool area and where Mark has his mini-football pitch.
Mark Wright’s representatives branded the claims ‘nonsense’ when approached by MailOnline at the time, while Michelle Keegan’s representatives declined to comment.
The couple bought the home for £1.3 million in October 2019 and it was revealed in January 2020 that they planned to rip it down to create the sensationally lavish new house with ‘classical design’.
It comes after Mark recently shared an unseen home video of himself demolishing the property over the summer in order to start building their dream home.
Smashed it! The couple bought the home for £1.3 million in October 2019 and it was revealed in January 2020 that they planned to rip it down to create the sensationally lavish new house with ‘classical design’ (Mark pictured demolishing the property over the summer)
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