A council has told a couple that chimneys they removed from a building without planning permission should be reinstated. A retrospective application was considered by a planning committee for the removal of four chimneys from a property that is within a Special Conservation Area.
One chimney had sustained damage in stormy weather early last year, making it unsafe and this led to work being carried out by the applicant to remove the other chimneys, due to further safety concerns. Applicant Jason Lewis said his wife had at that time only just inherited the property through bequest leaving them with responsibility for the building.
Speaking at a Wrexham County Borough Council meeting, he told councillors he had acted in good faith to meet the authority’s health and safety requirements. “I was told we had a few weeks to do the work, and it was emphasised weeks not months”, Mr Lewis said.
