Penarth couple in row with neighbours in street with £1m homes

Stuart and Lizzie Reid want to knock down their home at Cliff Parade and re-build it as a high-tech modern home with a swimming pool in the garden.

The couple submitted plans to the Vale of Glamorgan council to replace the 1970s four-bed two-storey home with a contemporary property divided over four floors with a flat-roofed roof pod on the top floor which includes plans for an outdoor swimming pool in the garden.

Neighbours have objected to plans and have instructed an estate agent firm on grounds of privacy concerns and damage to trees.

From top to bottom: How 4 Cliff Parade looks like now, compared to what it could look like if application to re-build is successful. Picture: Vale of Glamorgan planning file/Google (Image: Vale of Glamorgan planning file and Google)Mr and Mrs Reid first applied for the construction of a replacement house in 2021 which was rejected by the Vale of Glamorgan Council. On March 22, 2021, Mr and Mrs Reid's application was rejected by the council due to privacy concerns.

The council found that the proposed new build would cause a loss of privacy for residents living at numbers two and six Cliff Parade.

It said the “overbearing side elevation” would have an "unacceptable impact on the living conditions of the occupiers" and Vale of Glamorgan planners said the proposed design would be "visually incongruous" and insensitively developed, hurting the character of the wider street scene.

The proposal's design and prominence would make it visually incongruous and insensitively developed, hurting the character of the wider street scene.

The proposed new design with a swimming pool added to the garden at 4 Cliff Parade. Picture: Vale of Glamorgan planning file (Image: Vale of Glamorgan Council planning file)Loyn + Co Architects are assisting Mr and Mrs Reid with their renovation and have acknowledged key issues from the previous application.

Architects working on the project said the new application will take measures to reduce the overlooking that currently exists.

They said: “The key issues to address in this new application are scale and massing, overlooking, and maintaining neighbours' amenities.

View from the street outside 4 Cliff Parade before and after the development. Picture: Vale of Glamorgan Council planning file (Image: Vale of Glamorgan Council planning file)“The balcony is set back further in the site reducing the impact of the balcony looking south towards number six, all these measures will reduce the overlooking currently exists.”

Herbert R Thomas estate agents, acting for both next door neighbours, say they are objecting as “minimal changes” have been made to the previously rejected application.

It will be discussed by Penarth Town Council on Thursday at 7:30 pm, which will pass on its comments to the Vale of Glamorgan Council which will determine the application.