Ex-Rangers player objects to plans for house next door...as it’ll delay school run
FORMER Rangers star Peter Lovenkrands is trying to stop a house being built beside his £1.3million home – as it will make his school run difficult.
The 39-year-old, now a reserve team coach for the Ibrox side, also complains the plans will ruin his privacy and spoil his view.
He has filed an objection with council planning chiefs, stating that ‘privacy is very important’ to his family and the development would have a ‘huge effect’ on this.
Dane Lovenkrands, 39, shares his five-bedroom home in the affluent village of Thorntonhall, Lanarkshire, with his Scots wife Teresa, 35, and their two young daughters.
Plans to build a one-and-a-half storey, four-bedroom house on neighbouring land were submitted to South Lanarkshire Council by businessman Thomas Swanson.
But in a letter to planning chiefs, Lovenkrands and his wife said: ‘Our family home is directly in front of the new proposed house.
‘This will mean it will look directly onto our living area and bedrooms and into the most used part of our home and [is] a complete loss of our privacy.
‘The road outside our house is a very narrow one, with two larger cars struggling to pass each other at [the] best of times. How would this work with lorries and diggers?
‘We have two young children, so building work and any affected road closures in such close proximity is a major concern given this is the only route we use for work and school every day.
‘Our privacy is very important to us and we feel very strongly that the proposed house will have a huge effect on that.’
Two other neighbours have also objected to the proposed work.
Planning officials are due to make a decision on the application in the coming weeks. Approval for a similar project was turned down by the council in 2016.
A statement submitted to the local authority by Mr Swanson’s architects stated that the proposed dwelling had been ‘carefully designed in such a way that it would not overlook any of the neighbouring properties’.
It added: ‘The proposed one-and-a-half storey, fourbedroom dwelling, which reflects the rural and modern design of the surrounding area, aims to enhance the character of the area while being sympathetic to surrounding buildings.’ Former Rangers forward Lovenkrands put the family home – which boasts its own cinema, gym and games room with pool table – up for sale back in 2013, seeking offers over £1.2million, while he was playing for Birmingham City.
But the property was taken off the market when he moved back to Scotland after retiring, and he returned to Rangers as a coach in 2017.
Lovenkrands, who had six seasons at Ibrox and also played with Newcastle United, paid £1.3million for the house in January 2008.
‘Look directly into bedroom’