Wiltshire County Council
A Wiltshire couple have expressed their shock that their local council have told them their daughter's Wendy house needs planning permission.
Sally and Brook Johnson told reporters they were 'flabbergasted' when they received a letter to apply for retrospective planning permission for the play house in the grounds of their £1million country house.
They say the structure had gone unnoticed in their garden ever since they moved in 18 months ago - it only came to the attention of the council when a planning officer visited to examine the property for a proposed extension.
Mrs Johnson said the Wendy house is 'within a garden wall under a tree which cannot be seen from anywhere' at their home near Marlborough, Wiltshire.
She is outraged that the house will have to be pulled down if retrospective planning permission in declined - but has branded the whole notion of having to apply as 'unnecessary and is far beyond what the planning process is for'.
She also added that the cost of making the application 'far exceeds the cost of the Wendy house'.
The Daily Mail reports her as saying:
'We were completely flabbergasted. It is beyond my comprehension - I do not understand why we need planning permission. '[The planning officer] was here to look at a planning application we had put in for an extension. He chose to walk around the property and look wherever he wanted to look without permission. He looked everywhere.
'For whatever reason he then went back and reported there was a child's Wendy house that needed planning permission. We then received a notice we had to apply for retrospective planning and go through a process.
'I do not think it is necessary to have planning permission for a child of six to have a very old Wendy house which is not on concrete, not attached to the ground but just sits there within a walled garden under a tree which cannot be seen from anywhere and is not big enough for adults.'
A Wiltshire Council spokesperson told Parentdish:
'A planning officer went to the property to discuss a current planning application. As part of his site inspection he discovered several other structures which required planning permission. He requested the owners put in retrospective planning applications.
'Because this structure is above the permitted size for an area of outstanding natural beauty, it needs planning permission.'
What do you think? Is this structure beyond the proportions of what could be concerned a Wendy house? Or is it madness that something like this should need planning consent in a large private garden?