New appeal in bid to replace Shropshire author Mary Webb's home

The battle between Joe Kwaterski and Shropshire Council for permission to demolish Spring Cottage has been rumbling on for more than three years. The site is the former home of Precious Bane author Mary Webb and is considered by many to be of historic importance.

But the owner wants to demolish it and build a new home on the plot.

Planning permission for a six-bedroomed house on the plot, which is on Lyth Hill, near Shrewsbury, was first refused in October 2013. Dozens of objections were submitted to Shropshire Council with many saying the home was out of keeping with the surrounding area and that the original property should be retained due to its literary importance.

New plans were put forward in November 2015, to build a five-bedroomed house to include a basement cinema, swimming pool, orangery and three-bay garage, but these were again refused by the council on the grounds of its scale which neither related to nor was sensitive to the existing character or built form of the area.

Both Shropshire Council and the Planning Inspectorate asserted that the new home would be disproportionate to, and totally out of keeping with, surrounding properties and the rural area.

Now Mr Kwaterski, a local businessman, has now applied to the Secretary of State to appeal the decision. He said: "We are not out to build a carbuncle. We want to put something there that is pleasing to the eye. It will be environmentally friendly. We just want to find a nice place to live in our retirement. I don't think that is asking for too much. We are not going to put anything offensive there. I am feeling a little bit stoic and philosophical about this latest bid.

"We were visited by Historic England and the local heritage group and both of those organisations found there was very little of Mary Webb's original house surviving and therefore the site is of little literary relevance. It is not a famous landmark. I understand that many of the objectors felt we were going to be demolishing her home but it has been proven not to be the case. I think, actually, at this moment in time we have permission to knock the house down, what we don't have is permission for what we want to put in its place. The plans have been significantly redesigned to deal with the issues raised and hopefully they will now address those particular anxieties and concerns."

Mr Kwaterski was unable to say when the inspector from the Secretary of State would visit the site but is hopeful it will be before the end of the year.