Rita robbed of her wish to be at home

THIS is an open letter to make the residents of Hillingdon aware of the intransigence of the borough in accommodating the wishes of an elderly person, who has lived in this borough for 82 years and wanted to end her days in the house in which she was born and raised.

She was born Rita Holloway in 1934. Her two sisters were also born here. Her grandparents and her mother, father and partner all died here and she has lived in Meadow Cottage until she moved out in August 2016, due to the stress caused by Hillingdon Council’s refusal on five occasions, between August 2013 and December 2014, to grant planning permission to build a ground floor annexe because of her disability. This would have enabled her to remain in her own house and live out the rest of her days in comfort and dignity.

In 1970, I arrived with my father, Ronald Tillyer, who was Rita’s partner. We came to live in Meadow Cottages with the rest of her family.

In 1975, my father completely refurbished the whole house.

She has now moved out with her son to Norfolk, leaving her last remaining school friend still living in Trout Road. Rita did not want to move and was extremely stressed and upset on the day to see all her possessions being taken out.

The planning permission for this type of extension was required for reference only because it was within the permitted development rights.

On five occasions, five different officers from the council who came to view the proposal stated that it was well within the planning guidelines and ‘should not be a problem’.

On December 16 2014, Hillingdon Council sent a letter which included the following paragraph:

The proposed development does not constitute permitted development by virtue of the provisions of Schedule 2, Part 1 Class A of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted development) Order 1995 as amended by the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2013, as the dwelling has no recognisable residential curtilage, original or otherwise, that is enclosed, distinct or separate from the activities associated with the commercial site that surrounds it.

This is in spite of the fact that there is an established rear garden boundary fence. The five officers who came took many photographs of this rear garden showing the curtilage.

In view of the fact that five different representatives from the Hillingdon Council planning office have stated that there ‘should not be a problem’ the planning permission has been refused. Neither Rita nor I could understand why we had five refusals and we feel that there could be an ulterior motive because the council’s duty is to the care of the residents – or is it? RICHARD TILLYER Trout Road West Drayton