A millionaire ex-banker who has branded other proposed developments in Sandbanks ‘Barratt boxes on steroids’ has gained permission to build his dream home.
Simon Bowden, 66, fought for almost 30 years to build a new five-bedroom property on his £820,000 plot which he bought in 1998.
It sits within the highly desirable part of Poole, Dorset, that is home to numerous well-known figures including former Portsmouth and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.
Bowden planned to turn a 90ft-long 1920s wooden boathouse, which had been converted into a residential home, into his dream home.
But he fell foul of planning regulations and local rules when builders knocked down about 90% of the structure rather than refurbishing it.
This meant the work broke rules, introduced in the 1990s, which prevented new properties being built within 82ft of the waterfront.
Since the 1920s boathouse was converted before these rules applied, it had an exemption.
There was also a successful planning application in 1977 to extend the property.
However, the exemption no longer applied as the building was largely demolished, prompting the council to halt the work.
A 28-year planning dispute followed, during which time more than 20 applications were submitted, some of which were approved.
The latest successful application grants permission to build a three-storey, five-bedroom house further back from the seafront on the site.
The L-shaped property will have an open-plan kitchen, living and dining area, an outdoor swimming pool and a sea-facing balcony overlooking Brownsea Island, where Lord Baden-Powell staged the first Scout camp, according to the Daily Mail.
Its garden will run down to Poole Harbour and include a jetty offering direct access to the water, the publication said.
The flat-roofed home has been designed to fit among more than 50 trees on the site which are protected under a preservation order.
Planning documents stated: ‘The design approach adopted and careful siting amongst the mature landscape will ensure that the dwelling is viewed as a positive addition which sits comfortably within its context.’
Bowden’s agent said only glimpses of the house will be visible from the road and it will sit entirely outside the part of the plot identified as being at high risk of flooding.
Bowden described it as an ‘architecturally distinctive house which will add to the visual interest’ of the conservation area.
While the planning saga rolled on, Bowden criticised other proposed developments in the area, which has been dubbed Britain’s Palm Beach.
In one comment, he accused wealthy newcomers of replacing historic properties with ‘ugly houses’ and described one project as ‘visual barbarism’.
He recently objected to plans to demolish a 115-year-old Arts and Crafts home called Cama in Sandbanks and replace it with a sleek, modern home.
Bowden said: ‘Replacing such a historic house is a great shame, especially as the replacement dwelling is a very poor pastiche of Arts and Crafts, but sadly typical of the new style of Sandbanks Barratt boxes on steroids.
‘It has absolutely zero architectural merit.’
Referring to letters supporting that application, he added: ‘I see there were many letters of support, all from people who are recent migrants to Sandbanks and who also live in ugly houses.
‘When it’s gone few will remember the quality architecture on Sandbanks.
‘No doubt this will get approved, but the effect on Sandbanks of these fake houses is highly negative.’
Mr Bowden declined to comment about his own development when contacted by the Daily Mail.
has contacted him for comment.
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