Family accuse council of ‘cruel’ technicality in refusing permission for outbuilding extension for disabled son

Local Democracy Reporter Ollie Leader spoke to Steve and Sonia Butler at the building site in Hoo.

Transcript

00:00It's not been an easy few years for Sonia and Steve Butler, still reeling from the death

00:06of their son Nathan who took his own life in 2019. The couple had been hoping to build a forever

00:13home in Who for the best part of a decade that could accommodate their children's special

00:19educational needs. But time after time they've hit roadblocks that have left them with nothing

00:26but the foundations of their future still waiting to be completed. We've just worked all our lives

00:33to try and look after our children. Anyone with special needs children would tell you the same.

00:41But despite Nathan's younger brother desperately needing somewhere to live they've hit another

00:47hurdle with Medway Council's planning committee denying them permission to convert an existing

00:53annex into a living space while the rest of the works are undertaken. We need to make sure we don't

01:01lose another one because another different government department and now elected representatives

01:11have let down someone who needs them most. Someone who needed to be considered

01:17more sympathetically and understandingly and in a way socially responsibly. The reason why Medway Council

01:26rejected the planning application is because the foundations for the full bungalow are about one

01:31meter off. They're slightly too far forward but they won't allow the annex to be extended or lived in

01:38until that is changed and that's putting a major strain on Steve and Sonia's lives. What I'm really hoping is

01:45that we can wrap all this up before the winter comes because it's going to be challenging doing what

01:49we're doing anyway. It's a challenge to build your own property and provide for your son with a building.

01:57So that on top of the winter conditions would be really intolerable so I'm hoping and praying we can

02:03get everything sorted out. The couple do plan to appeal the committee's decision, one which wasn't

02:10universally supported at the time. When I see smaller you know the little people getting

02:18you know so much bureaucracy thrown at them and so much so many problems and it does frustrate me.

02:23It feels to me as if the little person gets treated badly and the the big fish the big developers they

02:31sort of get away with murder sometimes. Medway Council says that permission could not be granted

02:36as there is currently no dwelling that the annex could be connected to and that they remain

02:42committed to working with the couple on a revised submission. But regardless of what happens next

02:49Sonia and Steve remain hopeful that they can provide somewhere safe and secure for their son where his

02:56needs can be met, giving up now simply isn't an option. Oli Lieder in Who?