Rocker Roger drums up a protest over gatehouse

ROCK legends Queen are so big that Her Majesty and Paddington Bear tapped the opening beats to their anthem We Will Rock You on tea cups at the start of the Platinum Party At The Palace.

Yet the band’s drummer, Roger Taylor, has discovered that his superstar status cuts no ice with conservationists who have gone into battle over his plans to build a gatehouse at his historic £2 million mansion in Cornwall.

The drummer, 73, wants to demolish a former school room, gardener’s store and shed, and erect a new all-in- one building for the site manager at his coastal bolthole — a former children’s home — near Falmouth.

The new gatehouse, complete with an office and two ensuite bedrooms, would be built 100ft from the main house.

It will boost security by overlooking the gated entrance to the property, which boasts an indoor swimming pool, games room, tennis court and helipad.

But, in a letter to Cornwall Council, conservationists at Historic England say the proposed building would be ‘overly dominant’ and damage the setting of the Grade II-listed house.

‘Historic England considers that the proposed replacement building would have a harmful effect on the experience of the Grade II-listed building within its landscape, which forms part of its setting and therefore its heritage significance,’ says inspector Catherine Marlow.

Historic England has recommended that Taylor (pictured) considers alternatives such as forming a small courtyard of buildings ‘ in a manner reminiscent of an estate cottage with associated workshops’.

Inspector Marlow adds: ‘ This would continue to keep the functions of the buildings distinctly separate from the main house and would reduce their scale, mass and impact.’

Historic England has also suggested moving the proposed development farther east of a hard landscaped area with planting in between to ‘soften’ the visual impact. Council officials are expected to make a decision next month.