Locals worry ‘England’s prettiest road’ is being ruined by one drawback
Residents of Bibury, famed for England’s “prettiest street”, are angered by prolonged, disruptive building works at a listed cottage, citing daily blockages, noise, and damage
Villagers fear “England’s prettiest street” is being destroyed – thanks to years of building work at a cottage. Residents of the picturesque Bibury in the Cotswolds say they endure daily road blocks because of ongoing works at a Grade-II listed property.
The house undergoing renovation sits on Awkward Hill – regarded as one of Britain’s most attractive roads. But works which have been ongoing since 2023 are said to have also brought constant noise and disruption to neighbours on Arlington Row – widely regarded as the ‘prettiest street in England’.
Lorries that service the site tear up the verges and block their gates, locals said.
Residents of Arlington Row, Awkward Hill and Hawkers Hill say they are “horrified” by the damage that has been inflicted. Victoria Summerville, 69, who lives directly next to Rosemary Cottage in Awkward Hill said the works have “affected” her daily life.
She added: “My common boundary with that cottage is the wall at the bottom of my garden and so instead of looking out at a grass, a cottage or vegetable beds I felt that in two years I’ve looked out over what looks like bombsight. They never seem to do anything very fast and the contractors say it is because the owner keeps changing his mind about what he wants to do.”
The latest proposals for the cottage include the stripping and replacement of Cotswold stone slate roof tiles as well as adding insulation to a utility room. Plans also include an oak conservatory and a stone summerhouse, with previous proposals suggesting an underground garage at the site.
Ms Summerville voiced her frustration, saying: “For me and all my other immediate neighbours it is the inconvenience and the mess. These huge vehicles come up a lane that was originally a kind of track between the two halves of the village.
“It is wide enough to get a car and to get a bin lorry. But these massive vehicles come up with supplies on it. I have lost count of how many cement lorries have come up in the last weeks.
“When they unload at Rosemond Cottage nobody can get up and down the hill for the village. You can’t drive out a lot of the time because of the lorry blocking the lane. You can’t even walk down to the village because there is a lorry blocking the lane.
“A neighbour of mine got stuck the other day trying to take his son to the station. His son missed the train. When this happens day after day it becomes very wearying indeed.”
Another resident, who has resided in the village for over 30 years and wished to remain anonymous, expressed his dissatisfaction about the duration of the project. He stated: “I believe the extent and nature of the works are inappropriate for a small listed cottage on the ancient byway that is Awkward Hill.
“There is constant noise, disruption and inconvenience due to daily to-ing and fro-ing of trucks and heavy machinery, destruction of verges on Awkward and Hawkers Hill.” Chairman Craig Chapman expressed that the village has been dealing with “incredible disruption” for years due to ongoing works.
He stated: “It’s been perpetual and all of the verges have been ripped up. There’s a turning area at the top that has been significantly damaged.
“We had a further three planning application to consider and we’ve had enough and on behalf of the residents we’re saying this has to stop and we will objecting to the applications.” Mr Chapman also pointed out that the cottage is “not in keeping” with traditional Cotswolds cottages, as the owners have installed a barbeque, palm trees and an underground garage.
He added: “The main disruption has been caused by the fact that they built an underground garage. And I mean how many Cotswolds cottages have underground garages?
“We just don’t know when this is going to stop and I mean the owners don’t live there. They visit every so often, so that they don’t hate to live with the disruption.”
In response, consultants working for the applicant have stated in their submissions that the proposed works include replacing the failing roof on the utility room with new and reclaimed Cotswold stone slate. The oak frame conservatory is described as a “modest” extension to the kitchen part of the building and would include fixed glazing, natural Cotswold stone tile roof with oak French doors onto the upper patio area in the garden.
They explained that a “traditional understated” office/summerhouse in the upper garden had been approved in principle during pre-application discussions. Matthew Hollingsworth from Spirit Architecture Ltd explained: “The Awkward Hill road was closed by Gloucestershire Highways in 2023 after they received comments from the Parish Council in regard to the condition of the retaining drystone boundary wall of Rosemary Cottage and Highways then issued an enforcement notice to my client to make repairs.
“My client had to then pay for the re-building of this 3m+ high retaining wall to current safety standards. Closing the road obviously upset a lot of residents but it was the Parish Council who initiated this and the highways authority who instructed this work, it was not initiated by my client.”
He continued: “There is an underground garage being built which has full planning approval, this is instead of a previous above ground garage which has been removed and will be less obvious than the replacement one previously approved above ground. The access is a single lane narrow hill so it is tricky.
“This work would be complete by now but was delayed as additional flood risk assessments were required after a Parish Council comment. The report concluded that there was no flood risk.
“There are some landscaping works which have planning approval which are being undertaken – the work takes time with the limited site access, hillside site and being drystone faced. Finally two of the current applications made are for the repair and maintenance of the fabric of the listed building, generally seen as a good thing.
“One commenter refers to the Palm trees on site, this is an odd comment as these have been there for well over 20 years and my client has tried to retain these as they are part of the history of the building.” Locals say the owners currently do not live at the property.
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