‘Council workers built a pillar on my driveway without my permission – then gave us an £8k bill’

Detailed summary

Neighbours on a North London street are outraged at their council's decision to build a pillar in the middle of a retired journalist's driveway without his permission

A North London resident has been left outraged after a huge pillar was built on his driveway without his permission – with the council charging him and his neighbours £8,000 to fit it.

Steve McCormack, 69, was left shocked when he received a knock on the door one day to see workers building the structure in front of his house.

It comes after Brent Council found Steve and his neighbours in St Gabriels Road, Willesden Green, had breached planning guidelines after sprucing up their driveway in 2019.

Their front wall had cracked, leading them to repave the driveway to give it a new lease of life.

They say they ‘naively’ failed to apply for planning permission for the works, which led to a complaint.

The homes are in the Mapesbury Conservation area, which has strict guidelines to ensure any new development adheres to the area’s character.

Steve and his neighbours had no idea what they thought was a simple driveway refresh would lead to a seven year planning dispute.

After an inspection by planning officers, the new driveway was found to be in breach of these guidelines, as it was more than three metres wide and there was not enough “soft landscaping” on it.

Steve claims when the Edwardian house was split into four flats in the 1980s, the driveway was widened to accommodate two parking spaces, for which planning permission was granted at the time.

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