A distinctive white badger called Alberto has become an unexpected obstacle to a £25million scheme aimed at reviving a fire-damaged Elizabethan mansion in Dorset.
The 500-year-old Parnham House, a Grade I-listed property near Beaminster, was reduced to a charred ruin following a major blaze in 2017, believed to have been started by its former owner Michael Treichl.
Entrepreneur James Perkins acquired the property in 2020, with ambitions to return it to its original splendour.
His restoration strategy involves constructing 82 new homes across the estate grounds, with proceeds intended to cover the substantial rebuilding costs.
Wildlife campaigners have mounted fierce opposition to the proposals, warning that construction would devastate Millground Meadow, where Alberto has resided for nearly a decade since being rescued in 2015.
The Dorset Natural Heritage Initiative highlighted the meadow supports an entire population of rare pink-eyed albino badgers. “Millground Meadow isn’t just a green space: it’s home to one of the UK’s rarest sights: a regular population of albino badgers,” a spokesman stated.
Local naturalist Colin Varndell described the potential impact as “catastrophic” for wildlife, noting the meadow also shelters barn owls, otters, grass snakes and dormice.
“I am not interested in saving the house, that can fall down as far as I am concerned but it would be catastrophic for nature,” he said.
Parnham House, a Grade I-listed property near Beaminster, was reduced to a charred ruin following a major blaze in 2017
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SARAH SMITH
Perkins’ planning agents have defended the scale of development as essential for making the manor’s restoration financially viable.
The proposed housing estate would draw inspiration from Poundbury, King Charles’ model village constructed on Duchy of Cornwall land near Dorchester, featuring two and three-storey properties with architectural elements borrowed from Parnham House itself.
“The overriding aim of the applicant is to conserve and restore this exceptionally important Grade I listed house to a standard where it will be financially sustainable,” the agents stated.
They maintained the development had been carefully positioned to avoid adversely affecting the historic house’s setting or surrounding landscape views.