A Devon homeowner has been ordered to demolish his £150 summer house after his neighbour, a former Labour councillor, complained to Exeter City Council about the garden structure.
Andrew Causley, 59, a Royal Mail HGV driver, faces tearing down the wooden structure following an 18-month dispute which has already cost him £3,000 in legal costs.
The enforcement notice marks the local authority’s first such action in nearly three years, according to Mr Causley.
It sits in the corner of his front garden, replacing a children’s Wendy house that stood in the same spot for 25 years before it began leaking two years ago.
Despite being hidden from public view behind evergreen hedges, neighbour Stephen Warwick reported the structure as unauthorised construction.
Mr Causley and his wife Julie, 60, sought retrospective planning permission for the structure after installing it themselves 18 months ago.
The couple paid £150 for the cottage-style summer house, painting it green to match their front door.
Inside are just two wicker sofas, with no electricity connected. Mrs Causley explained they positioned it in that corner simply to catch the evening sun after work.
The homeowner has been ordered to demolish his summer house after a former Labour councillor complained to Exeter City Council
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The council, however, refused their application and gave them until November 17 to remove it.
“We haven’t had a cross word with him in 30 years,” Mr Causley said of his neighbour. “But he just came over and said ‘I’m a councillor, I don’t object, but somebody else might’.”
“Then he wrote to the council themselves to report it.”
Mr Warwick, who served as an Alphington ward councillor for eight years before retiring in 2024, mentioned his political role three times in his formal objection. He also noted his experience on the planning committee.
In his submission, Mr Warwick advised Mr Causley planning permission would likely be needed. He also claimed the structures had caused vegetation loss along the boundary, forcing him to gravel a strip of his garden.
Exeter City Council refused the couple’s application and gave them until November17 to remove the small structure
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Mr Causley suspects his neighbour’s former position influenced the council’s decision. “The council said it detracts from the street scene, but you can only see it from his house,” he said. “Something doesn’t stack up.”
Other residents on the street have rallied behind Mr Causley, expressing outrage at the council’s enforcement action.
“This is just typical of the corrupt Labour administration we have in charge,” one close neighbour told the Daily Mail. “It’s completely hidden behind a hedge so nobody else can see it, but they’re making a huge fuss about essentially a garden shed.”
The council deemed the summer houses “unsympathetic additions” that were “out of character with the existing building and the character and appearance of the street scene”.
Mr Causley said many gardens in the area have been converted to parking spaces. “People have dug up lawns for their cars,” he said.
Mr Causley has vowed to take his fight to court if necessary. “I just can’t see them winning at court,” he said. “Is it out of character? Is it ugly? On balance, most judges would say it’s not causing any harm to anybody.”
His wife Julie highlighted the irony of the situation, saying: “We like to feed birds, have hedgehog houses and turn our garden into a lovely little country haven=.
“If we asked for planning permission to have that all taken away and create car parking for six cars, they would allow it. But we can’t keep a little wooden structure in the corner of our garden.”
Exeter City Council have been contacted for comment.