Fury after millionaire house owner ‘hoodwinks conservation chiefs’
A millionaire homeowner who was given special permission to fell 28 trees for conservation purposes has sparked anger with plans to fill the gap with a cliff-top garden room.
Bill Buckler claimed he needed to clear the trees to protect the sloping cliff below his £3m mansion from erosion and to save sand lizards.
Although the mature pines were on a Site of Special Scientific Interest, Natural England gave Mr Buckler permission to carry out the clearing work.
But he has now been accused of hoodwinking the conservation body after unveiling plans for a luxury ‘garden pod’ on the newly-cleared cliff edge.
The 60ft wide building will have indoor and outdoor seating and a viewing platform with a balcony on the roof.
Millionaire homeowner Bill Buckler has sparked fury after replacing 28 protected trees with a cliff top garden room
Mr Buckler had received permission to fell 28 trees on conservation grounds
Pictured: The original bungalow with felled trees on the cliff
Mr Buckler’s mansion now. The main house was supposed to be neo-classical, but looks nothing like the original proposed design
It will be visible from the promenade 100ft below, especially now that the swathe of 30ft trees have been cleared out of the way.
To add insult to his neighbours’ injury, they have discovered the controversial businessman and his wife have been illegally letting out an annexe on AirBnB and making £300 a night.
Planners granted him permission for the three bed annexe next to his brand new mansion for their guests to say in.
But it is now being advertised on AirBnB as a £300 a night holiday let with five star reviews, in breach of the plans.
It is not the first time Mr Buckler, 62, has caused controversy at the site in posh Canford Cliffs, Poole, Dorset.
Since 2020 he has been carrying out a £10m development project that has seen a 1960s bungalow replaced it with four new luxury homes.
He built and sold off three detached homes and completed work on his own grand five-bedroom mansion.
But neighbours have reported unauthorised work carried out.
Mr Buckler frequently deviated from the approved plans for the mansion and then applied for and secured permission for the changes.
The main house was supposed to be neo-classical, but looks nothing like the original proposed design.
Windows have been added, rooflights moved, arches changed and top floor sunroom switched for roof-top watchtower that has been likened to something from Alcatraz.
The new luxury ‘garden pod’ will be visible from the promenade 100ft below, after the swathe of 30ft trees were cleared out of the way
After the work to fell the 30ft mature pine trees had been completed neighbours were quick to point out that his sea view had vastly improved.
Now he has submitted a fresh planning application for the garden room in the very place where the clearing work has happened.
The application states that this will ‘replace’ an outbuilding that had been there.
But neighbours claim there has never been a garden building there. One is not visible in any photos from before the original property was demolished.
Vanessa Glowacka, who lives in a neighbouring block of flats, said Mr Buckler’s latest planning application wrongly states the site cannot be seen from public land.
Mrs Glowacka said: ‘He’s gotten away with absolutely everything. We are just devastated about how much he has built on one area of land.
‘He’s calling it the ‘lower garden’ but it’s just the cliff. It’s an SSSI so he shouldn’t be building on it.
‘They had diggers clearing the site in May last year, a time of year that you should not be doing any work on an SSSI. That was the only time the council stopped him, because it’s a crime to do that.
‘If this building was allowed on this site it would totally dominate the cliff in this area, be visible from the beach, the water and the promenade for miles around and be entirely at odds with the surrounding cliff scape.
‘The site needs to be returned back to its protected state.£
Neighbour Irma Hunt said in her letter of objection: ‘I do not understand why BCP (Council) did not stop the building until planning permission had been applied for and investigated?
‘I object to the building of a garden room on the cliff edge, it will be a box that will be clearly visible from the promenade, beach and sea.
‘The garden room is definitely not a replacement, there has never been a large fixed structure in this position before.’
The land was previously home to the luxurious Canford Cliffs Hotel
The clifftop after the 28 trees were felled. Residents say the reasons given by Mr Buckler for their removal were ‘utter nonsense’
Local resident Simon Carter added: ‘Previous works undertaken on the cliff face to remove trees by the developer were given permission by Natural England based on a habitat improvement program. None of this has been put in place with, as far as I can tell, no consequences at all.’
Malcolm Rees, another neighbour, has also objected to the lower garden plans stating he had ‘several significant concerns’ about the SSSI and the structural issues of building on the cliff face.
Another neighbour said back in March: ‘It’s utter nonsense to say he has done it to protect the cliff face and save sand lizards. If that’s true why has he only taken down the trees in front of the lower garden he’s building?’
BCP Council said they cannot comment on live planning applications but confirmed a homeowner would need planning permission for a change of use to holiday accommodation.
Mr Buckler has been approached for comment.
