Locals force Roger Daltrey to ditch plans for new home

ROGER Daltrey ‘ran things the way he wanted’ in his days as frontman of The Who, according to guitarist Pete Townshend. But the My Generation singer is struggling to have things all his own way in the country, where he has lost a battle to build a new home on his 400-acre estate.

The rock star, 74, wanted to demolish a bungalow on his East Sussex trout farm and replace it with a three-bedroom house.

But residents in the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Heathfield raised ‘concerns’ about being overlooked and a loss of privacy.

In a letter to the local council, one wrote: ‘The north side of the house will be looking straight at us, therefore looking straight into our bathroom and overlooking us.

‘We enjoy living here, and the privacy and quiet it brings, and feel it will be taken if we have this house overlooking us.’ Another neighbour wrote: ‘While we have no objection in principle to the proposed development, we do see that it definitely impinges on the privacy of the neighbouring house.

‘In an area with so much space, it should be possible to plan the build without impacting the neighbour.’

The singer had been given the go-ahead for a new farm manager’s cottage five years ago and the neighbour said the council was ‘surprised’ they didn’t raise objections then.

Daltrey failed to carry out building work within the three-year deadline, so applied to Wealden council to renew the consent, but has now withdrawn the application.

Last month, I reported that a survey on the bungalow had disclosed ‘evidence of a bat roost’ in the roof, meaning Daltrey might have been obliged to install ‘bat access points’ in the new building, since they are a protected species.

Certainly more protected than Townshend and other members of The Who once were: anyone who argued with Daltrey, Townshend has said, ‘usually got a bunch of fives’.