Council chiefs couple block neighbour’s plans to build roof terrace on London home

A council chief couple have managed to block their neighbour’s plans to build a roof terrace next to their £1million London home after convincing a High Court judge.

Newham Council chief executive Katherine Kerswell and Kensington and Chelsea Council chief executive Barry Quirk CBE live together in Lewisham, south London.

The couple went to the High Court after Lewisham Council gave their next-door neighbour Esther Cavett permission to build a roof terrace on top of her garage – that would back on to their listed home.

They told the judge its metal cladding would be an ‘alien feature’ among the historic surrounding buildings and would send ‘disturbing vibrations’ through their walls.

Mr Justice Wiseman ruled in the couple’s favour but urged them to settle their differences with their neighbour after years of rowing over the plans.  

Newham Council chief executive Katherine Kerswell (left) and Kensington and Chelsea Council chief executive Barry Quirk CBE (right) live together in Lewisham, south London

He said: ‘The sooner this whole issue can be put to bed and both sides can get on with their normal lives the better.’ 

Mr Quirk used to be chief executive at Lewisham Council, who gave planning permission for the terrace in September last year.

A previous planning application for the roof terrace was refused in July 2013.  

Ms Cavett, a lawyer and music teacher, wanted to build the roof terrace on top of a garage which is sandwiched between the two properties, both of which are locally listed as heritage assets.

The terrace, if built, would be accessed through French windows from Ms Cavett’s master bedroom and be fitted with a metal spiral staircase leading down to her back garden.

But Ms Kerswell feared her garden would be more overlooked and claims the terrace would be only ‘one or two metres away from her bedroom’.

Perforated metal cladding would be ‘incongruous and alien’ and the terrace would harm the character and appearance of the row, she complained.

Ms Kerswell engaged a planning consultancy firm to help her oppose the terrace, but Lewisham Council still gave it the green light in September 2018.

The roof terrace would sit on top of the garage (pictured white, left) next to the couple’s home (main) 

A planning officer pointed out Ms Kerswell’s windows would not directly overlook the terrace and said that Ms Cavett’s plans ‘would not give rise to unacceptable noise disturbances’.

Ruling on Ms Kerswell’s judicial review challenge, the judge said the officer’s report was generally thorough and he had properly dealt with the issue of ‘airborne noise’.

But what he didn’t do was take into account Mrs Kerswell’s ‘acoustic’ concerns about ‘significant and disturbing vibrations’ from the terrace resounding through her side wall.

That was a controversial issue and it would be ‘ludicrous’ to say that it was irrelevant to the council’s planning decision, he told the court.

‘The only fair conclusion one can reach from the officer’s report was that he simply did not have any regard to the whole question of structural noise disturbance.

‘It was a controversial issue which was simply not addressed or taken into account,’ he concluded.

Overturning the ‘unlawful’ planning permission, the judge said he hoped the neighbours would now be able to come to terms.

The vibration issue might be resolved by ensuring that the terrace is not physically in contact with Ms Kerswell’s side wall, he added.

Observing that the neighbours appeared to have ‘got on perfectly well’ up to now, he said Ms Covett had adopted a ‘conciliatory tone’.

The judge concluded: ‘There is no reason why the parties should not, and every reason why they should, try to cooperate with each other.’