The owners of a north Norfolk home dubbed a coastal “fortress” by locals have been ordered to tear it down.
A decade-long planning row over a controversial home in Cley next the Sea built by a London theatre producer, appears to be over – with the owners being told they must demolish the unauthorised property.
The house on Holt Road, called Arcady, is owned by Adam Spiegel and his wife. Mr Spiegel's company has produced West End shows including Hairspray, The Mousetrap and Motown the Musical.
The Planning Inspector's decision requires the house to be pulled down by October 18, 2024.
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It comes as the modern property with a swimming pool breached planning rules – “towering over” neighbouring homes, according to residents.
They described the house an “eyesore” and a “blot on the landscape”, not in keeping with the rest of the seaside village.
A planning appeal from the owners for retention of the property was dismissed by the Planning Inspector, North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) has announced.
Locals claim the house was built without the correct planning permission.
In 2013, NNDC rejected Mr Spiegel’s bid to build a two-storey house and swimming pool because the design was considered "inappropriate" for the Cley Conservation Area.
A year on, the decision was overturned by the Planning Inspectorate, with permission granted on the condition the development had to be carried out in accordance with the drawings in the original plan.
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But in 2019, the council served an enforcement notice on the couple to demolish all buildings on the site because the development was "materially different" to the approved plan and of "increased scale, height and mass".
The owners appealed, with the outcome being a new application proposing changes to the building which would prevent it from being demolished. This was rejected by NNDC.
Now, the owners’ latest government appeal has also been dismissed.
Mr Spiegel was approached but declined to comment.
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