Eco home runs aground amid storm of protest

Charlotte Newton

A MUSWELL Hill architect has been forced to rethink plans to knock down an Edwardian house and replace it with an eco-friendly, glass and metal home after it provoked a heated response from neighbours.

Architect Margaret Lloyd and her husband Dr Ben Lloyd planned to demolish 1 Connaught Gardens and build a new home complete with solar panels, metal roof, glass cladding and timber shutters.

The couple, who have one daughter and live at Woodland Rise in Muswell Hill, said the Connaught Gardens house was their dream home.

But they have been forced back to the drawing board after a tidal wave of opposition from 70 neighbours.

Mrs Lloyd said: "The plan wasn't going to be approved because there were so many letters of objections from neighbours.

"I'm going to read every single one and then resubmit the plans so that they respect the rest of the road.

"I didn't know people would react to my plans in such a strong way and we don't want to move into a house and have angry neighbours.

"It's a good thing I'm an architect because I can redo the drawings myself without having to pay out fees to someone else. I'm just looking on the bright side."

But Mrs Lloyd, who has already bought the house with her husband, said she doubted they would have a housewarming party.

"I think we've caused enough of a storm - so I think we'll just be moving in quietly, without disturbing the neighbours," she said.

Geoff Hunt, from the Connaught Gardens Residents' Association, said: "I am delighted that the application has been withdrawn.

"If a development such as this were to have gone ahead, particularly in the centenary year of the first houses in Connaught Gardens, it would have alienated a lot of neighbours.

"It would also have set a precedent for knocking down the late Victorian and Edwardian houses which make our neighbourhood such an attractive, cohesive and harmonious environment in which to live."

broadway@hamhigh.co.uk