Couple forced to tear down garden shed after neighbour complains

A family in the UK has been ordered to tear down a wooden hut in their front garden after their long-term neighbour complained. 

Andrew, 59, and Julie Causley, 60, put up a small summerhouse on their property in Alphington near Exeter, 18 months ago to replace an old children’s playhouse that had started to leak, The Sun reported. 

The shed cost them about £150 ($300) and was about the same size as the cubby house, which had sat in place for 25 years.

In March this year, the Causleys were issued a planning enforcement notice by the Exeter City Council to remove the shed.

The council informed them the notice related to a complaint that the structure was an unauthorised construction. 

“We just thought it was a replacement and no big deal,” Andrew told The Sun. 

“We painted it the same colour as the front door and thought it was in keeping with the surroundings. Next thing we know we had a complaint and things have gone crazy from there.” 

The couple told the media outlet their neighbour of 35 years was behind the grievance.

The Causleys submitted a retrospective planning application for the summerhouse and a second shed elsewhere in the garden, but were refused permission, the BBC reported.

Now the couple have been ordered to tear both huts down.

They estimate they have spent about £3000 ($6000) on the legal saga, and expect the council has spent more.

The enforcement notice issued to the Causleys stated the sheds were “out of character with the existing building and appearance of the street scene,” the BBC reported.

Neil Stevens, the Devon County Council’s member for Alphington, criticised the council’s “heavy-handed approach”. 

Stevens stated in a Facebook post the summerhouse is “completely hidden behind a huge hedge and high wall, you can’t see a thing from the pavement”. 

Exeter City Council told the BBC it is unable to comment as the case is live.