Billie Faiers and husband Greg have been refused permission to build their dream home after buying rundown £1.4m mansion
BILLIE Faiers and her husband Greg Shepherd have been refused planning permission to build their dream home in Essex after furious complaints from their next-door neighbours.
The pair had visions of demolishing the ramshackle £1.4 million property they bought in Brentwood and turning it into a five-bedroom luxury home.
But their plans have been thwarted by Brentwood Borough Council, who said that their plans are too grand.
The council officer’s delegated report stated it would be the biggest house on the street and the increase in size from the original home would not be acceptable.
They also had reservations as to the style of the house being sympathetic to the surrounding area, which "would be eroded to the detriment of local character and spatial qualities."
The decision notice states: "The proposed extensions when combined would create a development which is excessive in terms of bulk, size, massing, roof design and siting, resulting in overly dominant additions to the existing dwelling and a substantial building out of character and appearance within its context.
"It would unacceptably reduce the spatial quality between properties which is characteristic of the area, to the detriment of local visual amenity.";
Despite the previous owner having planning permission to build two houses, the council was not happy for the former Towie star to be building one massive mansion.
The council said 'the proposed development would not have an unacceptable detrimental impact on the visual amenity and character and appearance of the surrounding area’.
Ironically, it was content that the plans didn't affect their neighbours on either side despite their complaints that the new building would be too close and affect their privacy.
The delegated report concludes: 'Taking all matters into the planning balance the proposal cumulatively results in significant harm to the appearance and character of the area, and cannot be mitigated by the imposition of planning conditions; the proposal therefore conflicts with policy CP1 and is recommended for refusal’.
The news will be heartbreaking for the pair, who were seen visiting the property on their hit ITVBe show The Mummy Diaries and set up a new Instagram account to show fans their progress with the renovations.
According to the plans, all five bedrooms were going to be on the first floor with the en-suite master bedroom having a huge dressing room.
Befitting one of the original ‘queens of TOWIE’, three of the other en-suite bedrooms were to have massive walk-in wardrobes.
Greg was allowed to add a ‘man cave’ to the property, converting the original garage into a gym and games room, and there was to be a play room for their two children Nelly, five, and Arthur, two.
They wanted to add a two-storey side extension and single extensions to the front and rear, and completely re-landscape the outside space.
They bought the four-bedroom 1920s property in Brentwood, Essex, for £1.4 million on 20 January this year, which badly needed a makeover as it was so out-of-date.
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On The Mummy Diaries, Billie showed off glimpses of the decrepit property and said in an interview with : 'We got the keys at the end of January but it's a huge project, a big renovation. We are going in blind because we've never done it before and we are starting from scratch.
'The architect has been in and for what we want to do, it's going to be at least a year or a year and a half until it is safe for us to live in, so we are going to stay where we are for now.'