A builder working for a property development company who was forced to build a house around a lamppost has hit back at critics, insisting he ‘built it how it is set out in the drawings’.
Dave Green, who works for Sachdev Properties Limited, noticed the light was set back further than all the others on the road in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, before the construction work started.
The 52-year-old said: ‘I said to the owner at the beginning, we need to move the lamp post.’
The lamppost was right where the fascias were set to go, so he built the house anyway and sealed it into the roof tiles.
The experienced builder said: ‘Everything runs level with the pavement on that road, all the houses are level, I can’t move that one back.
‘I’ve built it how it is set out in the drawings, that end house is nearly finished, we’ve got the plasterers in and they’re nearly done.
A builder working for a property development company who was forced to build a house around a lamppost has hit back at critics, insisting he ‘built it how it is set out in the drawings’
Dave Green, who works for Sachdev Properties Limited, noticed the light was set back further than all the others on the road in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, before the construction work started
The 52-year-old said: ‘I said to the owner at the beginning, we need to move the lamp post.’
The lamppost was right where the fascias were set to go, so he built the house anyway and sealed it into the roof tiles
The experienced builder said: ‘Everything runs level with the pavement on that road, all the houses are level, I can’t move that one back. I’ve built it how it is set out in the drawings, that end house is nearly finished, we’ve got the plasterers in and they’re nearly done’
Planning application drawings (pictured) showed that the house was always set to be built next to the lamp but not through it
‘We had to seal it and make it secure otherwise it would have been damp.’
It came after a resident in the street, where houses sell for between £85,000 and £150,00, said: ‘It does look odd. To me, it’s the council’s fault. They’ve approved the plans knowing the lamp post was there.’
Mr Green said that if they didn’t build the roof around the lamppost then it would have held the job up for three months.
He said: ‘It’ll be a case of moving a couple of tiles, letting the council remove the lamppost, then we can patch it up and fit the soffits.’
A resident in the street, where houses sell for between £85,000 and £150,00, said: ‘It does look odd. To me, it’s the council’s fault. They’ve approved the plans knowing the lamp post was there.’
A spokesperson for Tameside Council said: ‘We have spoken to the developer and they have agreed to remove the lamppost and replace it nearer a neighbouring boundary wall.’
Mr Green said that if they didn’t build the roof around the lamppost then it would have held the job up for three months
Mr Green said: ‘It’ll be a case of moving a couple of tiles, letting the council remove the lamppost, then we can patch it up and fit the soffits’
Planning application drawings showed that the house was always set to be built next to the lamp
But having the lamppost in the end of the row was not mentioned in any documents when planning permission was granted in February 2020
In fact, the decision was made based on plans showing the structure standing next to the property, not through the roofline
But a Tameside Council spokesperson said: ‘We have spoken to the developer and they have agreed to remove the lamppost and replace it nearer a neighbouring boundary wall.’
Planning application drawings showed that the house was always set to be built next to the lamp.
But having the lamppost in the end of the row was not mentioned in any documents when planning permission was granted in February 2020.
In fact, the decision was made based on plans showing the structure standing next to the property, not through the roofline.
Tameside Council eventually stepped in when it became clear the two-bedroomed properties would be marketed with one street lamp forming part of the row of four.
Tameside Council have been approached for comment.