A CHANNEL 4 star is fuming after the council let her neighbour keep a balcony which she says gives a full view of where she sunbathes.
Celia Sawyer, a celebrity interior designer dubbed “Mrs Bling”, has been embroiled in a bitter privacy row with a man who lives next door.
BNPSChannel 4 star Celia Sawyer has slammed her council amid a row with her neighbour[/caption]
BNPSShe says her neighbour built a balcony on his new mansion (right) that overlooks her home (left)[/caption]
Tim StewartCelia, known as Mrs Bling, opposed the balcony, which has now been given the tick of approval[/caption]
It came after he built a balcony that Celia claims overlooks her garden where she often lays in a bikini.
Neighbour Neil Kennedy was forced to apply for retrospective planning permission for his swanky home overlooking Poole Harbour in affluent Sandbanks, Dorset.
It came after he built the additional balcony on the mansion’s third floor, which Celia and her husband Nick heavily opposed.
But the Bournemouth and Pool Council has now given the balcony the tick of approval, and Celia has blasted the decision.
She slammed the green light for the application as “appalling and unfair”.
Celia, who stars in Channel 4‘s Four Rooms, and her husband Nick didn’t object to Mr Kennedy’s initial plans to rip down a £2million bungalow next to their home.
He planned to replace it with a three-storey house, but the couple said their neighbour failed to stick to the original proposals.
Of particular ire is an extension to the balcony.
The couple also had issues as they say windows have been added to both sides of the new property, meaning their neighbour could look directly into their house.
Celia told MailOnline: “I think it’s appalling my neighbour is allowed to have windows looking into someone’s house.
“Saying it’s not overlooking or a breach of privacy because it is a bathroom is absolute rubbish.
“It doesn’t make me feel good, to know he can stand on his balcony and look into our garden when I’m in my bikini.”
The properties there have rear gardens that back onto the water and have panoramic views over Poole Harbour.
Celia purchased her property with Nick for £2.7m in 2007, with the house now worth in excess of £4m.
In council officer Suzanna Knowles’ report for Mr Kennedy’s application, she said the additional side windows were not “an unacceptable situation” and that they faced a brick wall on the Sawyers’ home.
Ms Knowles added that the balcony extension had been considered as part of the original application and found it “would cause no material harm to the amenities of the neighbouring homes“.
The Sun has approached the council for comment.
Mr Kennedy previously declined to comment on the matter.
What are your retrospective planning permission rights?
A local planning authority can invite a retrospective application, according to Gov.uk.
You should submit your application without delay.
Although a local planning authority may invite an application, you must not assume permission will be granted.
A person who has undertaken unauthorised development has only one opportunity to obtain planning permission after the event.
This can either be through a retrospective planning application or an appeal against an enforcement notice – on the grounds that planning permission should be granted or the conditions should be removed.
The local planning authority can decline a retrospective planning application if an enforcement notice has previously been issued.
No appeal may be made if an enforcement notice is issued within the time allowed for determination of a retrospective planning application.
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