A couple face having their £1m dream home demolished... because of a "computer error".
Council officials say Colin Walker and his wife Collette have built a luxury home several yards WIDER and LONGER than plans allow.
But businessman Colin insists the mistake is down to a computer print-out in which the blueprint was scaled-down automatically.
"When the plans have been printed out, we didn't realise the printer had reduced them by 4 per cent and these were the plans that were passed," said Mr, Walker.
The pair, who have been married for 22 years, had always envisaged their perfect house and began carefully designing it two years ago using computer AutoCAD design software.
Planning permission was granted and building work is nearing completion on the family home in the affluent area of Aughton, West Lancashire.
But a council inspector has now said the dimensions are not the same as the ones submitted and are therefore illegal, which could lead to the couple's home being flattened.
Mr Walker, 50, insists the council is at fault because they did not ask for dimensions for the house at any stage from planning to the building being completed.
"The trouble is that the plans were drawn up with AutoCAD and it's dangerous to use a scale ruler because printers often have these discrepancies with computer- aided design.
"This is why the plans clearly state that all the dimensions should be checked or measured on site and not scaled from the drawing.
"However, plans containing full dimensions were subsequently submitted to West Lancs building control."
Mr Walker, originally from Crosby, planned to move into the house with his wife and their two children, aged 21 and 16.
He has already lost an appeal against an enforcement notice to have their four-bedroomed house on Winifred Lane, knocked down.
And he is now hoping the High Court can stop halt plans of a demolision.
"We weren't aware that there was a problem. We were building the plans that we believed the council had passed." Said Mr Walker
"At no point were we asked for dimensions, even when the planning officers came round the site when the walls started going in.
"We were hoping to solve this with the council, but it looks like we will have to appeal to the High Court."
In a statement, West Lancashire Borough Council said: "The council considers hundreds of planning proposals every year and requires a strict standard of information to be submitted.
"This includes the submission of scale plans which are accepted in good faith to accurately represent the proposed development in any particular case.
"Where the council is required to print copies of electronically submitted documents, the prints are consistently made at the encoded scale; therefore, the authority is always representing the information correctly as submitted by the applicant.
"It is also worthy of note in this instance that, in addition to disparities in scale, the council listed more than 15 other discrepancies between the formerly approved plans and the development subsequently built."
Post a comment