Chimney Removal Sparks Historic Cottage Dispute

A battle is heating up over a chimney removed from a historic cottage in Kintbury, the pretty village south of the River Kennet between Newbury and Hungerford.

The Forge Close cottages off Station Road date from the 17th and 18th centuries. The owner dismantled a chimney they say was leaning and unsafe, but the work was done without permission from West Berkshire Council.

A retrospective application was rejected. The planning officer said: "The removal of the chimney structure and stack has resulted in the loss of historic fabric and visually changed the listed building.

"The chimney stacks contribute to the understanding of the evolution of the
building into four and now three cottages and so the loss of the chimney is deemed harmful to the significance of the listed building.

"Prominent chimney stacks are important features of historic
buildings which are an important characteristic of the Kintbury Conservation Area and its significance."

The decision was reached on September 11. The homeowner has appealed to the government's planning inspectorate. You can view the application using reference 26/01592/LBC on the council's planning portal and track the appeal with reference 6018187 on the inspectorate website.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter