Victory for darts ace in planning row over garden practice room

DARTS player Gerwyn Price has been granted planning permission to complete the building of a practice room in his back garden.

A neighbour objected to the development, claiming the building has caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage to a retaining wall.

But the double Grand Slam of Darts winner, known as The Iceman, can go ahead with the building after the objections were dismissed at a Caerphilly planning committee meeting on Wednesday.

Objector Jeffrey Smith, whose 89-year-old mother lives next door to Mr Price’s house in Markham, claimed building the practice room had caused “major disruption” to a neighbouring wall, which he said is now at “serious risk of collapse”.

Mr Smith said it will cost more than £5,000 to repair the wall and that it has moved five inches.

“My mother is 89 years old and she has lived at the property for 60 years and never had any trouble,” Mr Smith said.

“But since this has happened I have had to endure my mother crying on a weekly basis.”

Mr Smith called on the committee to “take a duty of care” to his mother and refuse the plans, saying he would have had no objection if the practice room had been built elsewhere in the garden.

He accused the PDC World Darts Championship semi-finalist of showing “total disregard” to his mother’s property and boundary wall, making claims she has had to endure “late-night drinking and people urinating over the wall.”

But such accusations were rejected by Welsh number one Mr Price, who described the claims as “garbage”.

“This whole debate is not about the outhouse, it is about the wall which I said I would replace,” Mr Price said.

“As for the issues about noise, it is not true. I use this for my livelihood as a practice room.

“I am just somebody with a family who tries to do my best and some people try to drag me down.”

Mr Price said that when he bought the property the neighbouring wall was already “in ruins” and that he said he would replace it.

The Iceman said it had been arranged that he would pay for the wall to be replaced and Mr Smith’s mother would pay for a skip.

Planning officers advised councillors that the dispute over the boundary wall was a civil matter covered by separate laws.

Councillors approved the plans, which include a 1.8m-high fence to protect privacy.