Geoff Barraclough: ‘I hope this outcome sends a clear message: those who ignore planning rules will be held accountable’

A HOMEOWNER has been given a year to fill up a “sub-basement” excavation and restore a series of other unauthorised alterations at a Grade II-listed house in Mayfair.

A planning inspector this week dismissed an appeal from Stefano Menconi against an enforcement notice from Westminster City Council at his property in Park Street.

The council said they discovered extensive works had taken place in the townhouse, part of the Grosvenor Estate, despite planning permission for the changes being rejected in 2010.

Further investigations found new floor, ceiling heights, fireplaces, cupboard doors and wood panelling, they said.

The appeal said: “Given that the property is currently occupied and given the extent of the works required, 12 months is a wholly inadequate time. The work will require alternative accommodation to be sought. Filling in the basement may require separate licences and wayleaves to be organised and secured. Securing a contractor, and allowing for lead in times, contract and project management… The period for compliance more realistically should be 24 months.”

The appeal argued that heritage buildings had a history of being adapted, and added: “Historic buildings such as 74 Park Street, and many others like them in London and elsewhere, exhibit evidence of change, remodelled and extended to meet the needs of contemporary society. What has taken place here, as elsewhere, is a new chapter in the evolution of these buildings, repurposed to meet 21st-century needs. This ensures the viability of these historic buildings, keeping them in residential use.”

Heritage buildings should not be “solely memorials to the past” it said, and that “a key characteristic of our historic environment and what makes it special is that it is a product of change”. As an example, an “exodus of live-in staff” meant there was a changed role of the kitchen.

The house is believed to have been built in 1729 and owned by the Duke of Westminster, a “rare surviving house from the early period of the development of the Grosvenor Estate”.

The current owner has been ordered to pay some of the city council’s legal costs.

Thomas Shields, planning inspector, said: “Subject to the corrections and variations the appeal is dismissed and the listed building enforcement notice is upheld. Listed building consent is refused for the retention of the works carried out in contravention of section 9 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (as amended).”

The council’s cabinet member for planning Geoff Barraclough said: “I hope this outcome sends a clear message: those who ignore planning rules will be held accountable. It is simply not acceptable to carry out works that have been explicitly refused listed building consent.”