FUMING residents have complained that their spectacular views will be obliterated by an eyesore development compared to the “Berlin Wall”.
Disgruntled locals in Gravesend, Kent, have blasted controversial plans to build a “monstrous” winery near their homes.
The owner of Cobham House Vineyard has submitted his fourth application to see if prior approval is needed to erect the large-scale agriculture building near neighbouring properties.
Pallab Sengupta – who lives in Andorra – bought the almost 29-acre estate, off Gold Street, intending to harvest the grapes.
If approved, it would be more than 40m long and 9m tall – the same height as two double-decker buses stacked on top of one another.
Around 22 acres are used for growing vines meaning 61 tonnes of fruit is expected per year and 60,000 bottles of sparkling and still wines could be produced by 2027.
According to the submitted planning statement, the proposed winery is therefore needed to support the expansion of the business.
But residents who live near the vineyard are far from happy and claim the plans are “unacceptable”.
The winery would sit metres away from Elizabeth Rons’ back fence, ruining her view of the countryside.
Speaking to KentOnline, she said: “It will be like having the Berlin Wall at the end of the garden.”
Richard Gethin added: “It will completely obliterate the view. It is an industrial unit.
“It is within yards of an elderly couple’s garden. It will stop them from having any view and the constant noise and light pollution will make their lives unbearable.
“The winery has been placed in the worst possible position in the whole field as it is in the highest part and can be seen from miles around. It is not in keeping with this beautiful and tranquil area.
“It will destroy the amenity of the area for the public forever.
“This winery will totally change the local environment by being a blot on the landscape.”
Meanwhile, Dr Rubin Minhas described it as a “monster of a building” and said that if the plans were approved it would be “devastating to their quality of life”.
He said: “Nobody is against the principle of development. We recognise he can put an agricultural building on his land.
“However, if you put a building of that size on the land you have industrialised the area.”
The barn – which will be stained black to merge with the landscape – is planned to be placed on the north of the vineyard, near the back gardens of the homes on Gold Street.
The submitted document states it would be near “hedges and trees” to help “provide containment” and where it can “be screened with native planting”.
It adds: “It should be noted that the vines on either side will provide a significant screening effect most of the year during the summer months.
“The main point here is the proposal is sensitively designed, is reasonably necessary for agriculture and will be screened using a landscape strip and the vines themselves.
“The building and processes within fall within the definition of agriculture as confirmed by case law. For these reasons, the proposal can secure prior approval.”
The submitted planning statement added: “The proposed location is easiest for future access and screening.
“It is considered optimal because it is set against an existing tree line, rather than in an isolated field location elsewhere.”
Eight letters of support and six objections to the plans were submitted at the time of writing.
This is the fourth time Mr Sengupta has sought permission after the previous three were rejected by Gravesham council.
The Sun have contacted Gravesham Council and attempted to reach out to the applicant for comment.
Your first port of call is to write to your local council as soon as possible saying why you think the application should not be approved, according to the Local Government Ombudsman website.
In most cases there will be more than one stage to this complaints process and this will normally have to be completed before the Ombudsman can step in.
You can also contact the Ombudsman if you think the council is taking too long to deal with the issue – 12 weeks is seen as a reasonable time to look into the matter.
If you are unhappy with the council’s decision you can then complain to the Ombudsman.
This is required, even if the development is being built.
However, the website states: “It is unlikely that any planning permission already granted will be changed by an investigation by either the council or us, but steps may be taken to reduce the effects of the development on you if fault is found.”
Anyone thinking about contacting the Ombudsman needs to get in touch within 12 months of when you first knew about the problem as otherwise they may not be able to help.
The areas that the Ombudsman may look at concerning the council are:
