Plan for village mansion faces refusal

By Kate Maxwell

A FEW decades ago stately homes were being demolished because the cost of maintaining them was ruining their owners.

But classic-style mansions like Benacre Hall and Heveningham Hall might soon have a competitor in the unlikely village of Reydon, better known for its more modest bungalows and chalets.

A scheme to build a palatial country house in the style of Benacre Hall and the now-demolished Henham Hall comes before Waveney District Council tomorrow.

The proposal is to demolish Smear Farm - which currently consists of a modern farmhouse, three terraced labourers' cottages and a collection of agricultural buildings - and replace them with two large houses, one in the style of a classic mansion, the other as a converted stable block.

The mansion would be “traditional and symmetrical in form to complement larger classical country houses in Suffolk”, said the proposal.

It would also be smaller “to reflect modern-day family needs and lifestyle”, although it would have five bedrooms with two self-contained one-bedroom staff flats.

The mansion would be faced with Portland stone and “topped with a copper-clad dome of classical proportions”.

The second building would be a courtyard development with five bedrooms and a staff bedsit.

Reydon Parish Council said it supported the scheme, but eight villagers have lodged objections to the plan.

Planning officials have recommended the council's rural area development control committee should refuse planning permission tomorrow on the grounds the scale of the project would be inappropriate in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Neil Ward, of NWA Planning in Ipswich, which submitted the plan for Chimale Ltd, said the owner did not wish to comment on the scheme.

kate.maxwell@eadt.co.uk