Fears England’s ‘prettiest street’ is being wrecked amid ‘years of disruption’
Bibury, in the Cotswolds, is famous for its picturesque Arlington Row which is widely regarded as the prettiest street in the country
Villagers fear ‘England’s prettiest street’ is being wrecked after years of construction works amid complaints over noise, verge erosion and the road to their homes being blocked on a daily basis.
Bibury, in the Cotswolds, is famous the world over for its picturesque Arlington Row which is widely regarded as the prettiest street in the country.
However, residents of Arlington Row, Awkward Hill and Hawkers Hill say they are “horrified” by the damage that has been done and the impact the works are having on their lives since works at a grade II-listed cottage began in 2023.
The latest plans for Rosemary Cottage in Awkward Hill include the stripping and replacement of Cotswold stone slate roof tiles as well as adding insulation to a utility room.
There are also plans for an oak conservatory and stone summerhouse there have been previous proposals for an underground garage at the site.
Kent Jackson, a nearby neighbour, is among those who have been “greatly affected” by the prolonged works over the last few years.
“The development has caused physical damage to my property, including rendering my external pedestrian steps unusable,” he said in his formal objection.
“Daily obstruction by construction vehicles, the erosion of verges, the closure of Awkward Hill, and persistent noise and disturbance has a significant impact to everyone’s quality of life who live in the village.
“Beyond the neighbour impact, the scale and intensity of works have resulted in harm to Bibury’s village character, the Cotswold AONB (national landscape), and to the significance of the Grade II listed building itself.
“The property now appears overdeveloped and out of keeping with both its heritage status and its landscape setting.”
Victoria Summerley, another neighbour, said numerous objections of residents have “seemingly fallen on deaf ears at Cotswold District Council”.
“The constant traffic of heavy lorries up and down the narrow lane – some almost too wide for the road and needing a team of people to guide them – has eroded the verges and the road surface and caused damage to trees.” she said in her objection.
“I hope and pray that this time Cotswold District Council might actually listen to the objections of neighbouring residents instead of ignoring them.
“Believe me, we are not just making a fuss for the sake of it.
“We are horrified by the damage that has been done and the impact on all our lives.”
Jennifer Hedgeland, who also lives nearby, said residents of Arlington Row, Awkward Hill and Hawkers Hill have been “enormously” inconvenienced.
This is because of the closure of Awkward Hill for over a year, the constant flow of large delivery vehicles delivering, she said, and a “very noisy dumper truck also running up and down”.
“The number of times we haven’t been able to access or leave our property due to vehicles blocking the narrow land,” she said.
“The verges are non-existent, the small area of grass at the top of the hill has been eroded. We have all suffered various forms of damage, be it minor, it’s still not acceptable.”
She also said they had a visit from a very helpful highways officer who witnessed a large vehicle reversing all the way up from the main road and blocking traffic in both directions.
“This is more than a daily occurrence,” she said. “Further planning on Rosemary Cottage should be refused.”
Bibury Parish Council debated the proposals at their meeting last night and have agreed to formally object to the District Council.
Chairman Craig Chapman said the village has suffered with “incredible disruption” for years by the ongoing works.
“What we are seeing is a grade II-listed property that is being completely altered,” he said.
“Last night we considered three different planning applications, one for a summer house, a conservatory on the front of the building but before that we saw an underground garage which is completely altering a listed building in the conservation area next to Arlington Row.
“While any of the applications in isolation could be considered as viable, it’s the combination of the whole lot.
“Not only is the property being substantially changed, but the whole area of Awkward Hill and Hawkers Hill is being wrecked by these massive vehicles that are coming to collect all the earth, drop off diggers.
“It’s been going on for three years.”
Consultants working for the applicant say in their submissions to the council that the proposed works include replacing the failing roof on the utility room with new and reclaimed Cotswold stone slate.
The oak frame conservatory is described as a “modest” extension to the kitchen part of the building and would include fixed glazing, natural Cotswold stone tile roof with oak French doors onto the upper patio area in the garden.
And they said a “traditional understated” office/summerhouse in the upper garden was agreed in principle during the preapplication correspondence.
Overall, both proposals will have a less than significant harm to the listed building and its setting, they said.
Applicant Metin Dener has declined to comment. However, his architects have responded to some of the objections.
“The Awkward Hill road was closed by Gloucestershire Highways in 2023 after they received comments from the Parish Council in regard to the condition of the retaining drystone boundary wall of Rosemary Cottage and Highways then issued an enforcement notice to my client to make repairs,” a Matthew Hollingsworth of Spirit Architecture Ltd said.
“My client had to then pay for the re-building of this 3m+ high retaining wall to current safety standards.
“Closing the road obviously upset a lot of residents but it was the Parish Council who initiated this and the highways authority who instructed this work, it was not initiated by my client.”
They also said recent road closures in Bibury have nothing to do with their client or Rosemary Cottage but are related to water works.
“There is an underground garage being built which has full planning approval, this is instead of a previous above ground garage which has been removed and will be less obvious than the replacement one previously approved above ground,” they added.
“The access is a single lane narrow hill so it is tricky. This work would be complete by now but was delayed as additional flood risk assessments were required after a Parish Council comment. The report concluded that there was no flood risk.
“There are some landscaping works which have planning approval which are being undertaken – the work takes time with the limited site access, hillside site and being drystone faced.
“Finally two of the current applications made are for the repair and maintenance of the fabric of the listed building, generally seen as a good thing.
“One commenter refers to the palm trees on site, this is an odd comment as these have been there for well over 20 years and my client has tried to retain these as they are part of the history of the building.”