A man is in deep water after he cladded his home without relevant planning permission.
Peter Albon had put up the cladding on his house at Shipmeadow, between Beccles and Bungay, without asking permission from the Broads Authority at the time.
Mr Albon had then applied for retrospective planning permission for “horizontal cladding attached to exterior wall surfaces of dwelling” four months after the work started.
The cladding “is a cement board with a light colour green with a timber grain exterior finish”.
However, his application was refused by the Broads Authority as the cladding would “result in an unacceptable and incongruous change to the host dwelling” and would be “detrimental to the character and appearance of the local landscape.”
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Mr Albon is now appealing that decision to the Planning Inspectorate and as part of the process he has admitted that he did not know he needed permission from the Broads Authority to clad his home, which is off the B1062.
In the appeal letter, it says the cladding was added “to improve the appearance of the dwelling and to address dampness and heat retention”.
The letter adds that the applicant believed “he had permitted rights and so proceeded to add the cladding to his home”.
It said: “My client was unaware that the Broads Authority has their own planning requirements, separate from other planning authorities.
"The development works my client has carried out were done using historical knowledge of similar developments on similar properties, elsewhere in the country."
The letter goes on to say the applicant was not happy that the Broads Authority would not negotiate over the issue.
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In the Broads Authority refusal notice, a heritage officer said: “The cladding proposed is not suitable for this property, impacts on the historic and rural character by creating uniformity and an urban appearance.”
While the applicant added the cladding to "address dampness", the heritage officer added that it "could even cause damp issues".
A site notice remains outside the property for the retrospective planning application.
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