A homeowner raged his neighbours’ complaints about his wall were ‘nonsense’ – some residents even slammed the local council and claimed the controversial wall shouldn’t have been given planning permission
A fiery neighbourhood row has erupted on a “middle class” estate over a new wall as one resident furiously claimed it made the area look “like some sort of prison”. A 6ft wall erected at a home in Nuthall, Nottinghamshire, has been described as a “monstrosity” with some people claiming the homeowner should never have been given planning permission.
Jonathan Lewis, the homeowner at the centre of this drama, hit back at his fuming neighbours, calling the issues “a nonsense”. Lewis even urged raging locals to raise their problems to his face as the “posh” estate clash heated up, saying: “Nobody has come to me and said anything. They can come here.”
The boundary wall was erected during extension works at the home in the Mornington Crescent estate earlier this year and has attracted the ire of several locals, NottinghamshireLive reports. Next door neighbour Anthony Wilson spearheaded the campaign against Lewis’ wall, claiming it was built both higher and closer to the public footpath than originally proposed.
The 58-year-old veteran said: “What has happened is an absolute travesty. Mornington Crescent is a suburban middle-class neighbourhood. With the monstrosity of the wall it looks like some sort of prison. It should be demolished. It’s totally obliterated the view from my house.”
Wilson said 15 people objected to the wall and claimed none of them were contacted beforehand. Broxtowe Borough Council said the structure had been built in accordance with the application which “considered all relevant comments”.
Another resident, Tony Pinkstone, 69, said: “It’s completely destroyed the street scene. This estate was always attractive with open front gardens. I think it’s appalling and that’s the general view on the estate. All it’s doing is devaluing the properties because it’s making a harsher environment.”
The homeowner hit back at complaining neighbours and defended his wall. Lewis said: “We have followed the rules to the absolute letter. The council said we could build it and we built it.”
He added: “In my opinion it looks really nice and it’s completely lawful.” The homeowner even claimed other homes on the estate had the same wall as his, adding: “You only have to look across the road and they have a 6ft wall… This is not something completely outrageous or out of keeping. If you go down the estate you’ll see many, many properties with the same.”
A spokesperson for Broxtowe Borough Council said: “The wall in question has planning permission, and the heights of both the wall and the pillars are in accordance with the approved plans.
“The planning application considered all relevant comments, and the case officer came to an assessment that the wall should be approved.
“It should be noted however that any legal issues or covenants are not planning matters and cannot be considered in determining this or any other planning application.”
