I opposed my neighbour’s bid to build holiday lets in his garden – and then I applied for planning permission myself

A GRAN who won a court case to stop her neighbour building a holiday park has applied to throw her own one up in her back yard.

Patricia Shave, 70, quashed neighbour Paul Body’s plan to build 18 homes in his paddock and forced the council to pay her £18,699 in legal costs.

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Patricia Shave objected to her neighbour’s plans but now wants to out holiday lets up[/caption]

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Mrs Shave wants to put up four lets in her garden in Marden, Kent[/caption]

She is now seeking planning to build four lets of her own in her garden two and half years after the ferocious row with her neighbour.

But son Matthew Shave said his mum, from Marden, Kent, is not a hypocrite and is in fact “testing” the planning system.

He told KentOnline: “My mum doesn’t actually want to build the holiday lets – of course she doesn’t. She lives there with my sister.

“When we objected to the application, we warned that if the council was prepared to grant permission there, it would effectively be making any patch of open space in the countryside vulnerable to a similar application.

“That’s what we are doing, testing the system.”

After Mrs Shave won her judicial review to stop Maidstone Council, who had initially granted permission to Mr Body, they reconsidered the application.

On reflection they said they were right all along and again granted Mr Body planning permission.

Mrs Shave – considered a “key objector” to the plans – threatened to take legal action for a second time but didn’t follow through.

The gran and mum-of-three stated fear of noise and disturbance, lack of privacy, bad smells, light pollution and an obstructed view from her 300-year-old cottage were reasons for her objection.

But she is most concerned about water flooding off from the site and drenching her plot.

Mr Body’s holiday park has not yet been built, despite having registered for planning back in December 2019.

So Mrs Shave is waiting to see the impact it will have on her before considering what to do next.

Son Matthew explained that if next door’s holiday lets force his mum to move, then her own planning permission for lets may help increase the value of her home.

Paul Nicholls, of Graham Simpkins Planning consultancy who represented Mr Body, said: “She made a point of saying that she did not want any holiday homes close to her.

“Yet she has now applied for a holiday park herself in her own back garden.”

Both sides’ applications are officially for holiday “caravans” however this is a technical term for what will be three-bed holiday lodges.

Mrs Shave is applying to Maidstone Borough Council for four timber-clad lodges that will stand on concrete – they will come with six extra parking spaces on her property.

The council have not objected to these plans.

The Sun Online have approached Maidstone Council and Mrs Shave for comment.

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Son Matthew (R) says his mum is not being hypocritical seeking planning permission and says it is to add value to the property[/caption]