Flatten this monstrosity
Fury at doctor’s £1m home that ‘sticks out like a sore thumb’
A DOCTOR is at war with his neighbours after they demanded he demolish the £1million ‘monstrosity’ he built in their road.
Manoj Srivastava had been granted planning permission to replace his bungalow with a two-storey home.
But furious neighbours in the affluent suburban street say it sticks out like a sore thumb, is much bigger than permitted and the roof is too steep.
The hostilities have become so toxic Dr Srivastava, 48, claims he has been the victim of racism. The matter has now been referred to Whitehall after the council refused retrospective planning permission for changes to the original design.
Dr Srivastava, a consultant radiologist, told a planning meeting: ‘We have been subjected to derogatory comments on Facebook.
‘There have been racist slurs. This is nothing but bullying tactics and harassment.’
Neighbours told the meeting the property was not what was approved by the council in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. David Tyler, 54, said: ‘How planning permission was given for this monstrosity is beyond comprehension. Adjoining neighbours have gone from not being overlooked at all to living in a goldfish bowl.’
Fran Banfield added: ‘This property sticks out like a sore thumb and could well be a mini-hotel or office building.’ Dr Srivastava, who lives with his doctor wife, was given consent to raze the bungalow in Willen and replace it with a larger property in 2017. But the footprint ended up 236sq ft bigger than allowed and the roof was at a 40 degree pitch, not 30 degrees.
The entrance and garage were apparently also wrong, as were some doors and windows.
Dr Srivastava’s agent, Isaak Jackson, of Essex-based Method Studio, said there had been ‘shortcomings by the contractor’.
Planning chiefs served an enforcement notice affecting the floor area and roof. A retrospective planning application lodged by Dr Srivastava was later refused.
A planning meeting last week failed to make a final decision.
The doctor has now appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, which has told the council an error in one of the enforcement notices makes it null and void. A public inquiry will start on March 11.
Dr Srivastava, who has worked at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex, was suspended in 2018 after a ‘fitness to practise’ tribunal – a ruling which was later quashed.
He declined to discuss the planning row yesterday, saying: ‘I need to speak with the people who represent me.’