Why villager wants to demolish own cottage

A Herefordshire homeowner is seeking permission to demolish his own property – because repeated flooding has made it a liability.

Nick Jones says in his planning application (number 250949) that Vinery Cottage in Mill Lane, Wellington north of Hereford “is now uninsurable for flood risk whether for buildings or contents”.

“It is therefore uninhabitable and cannot be rented,” while the cost of maintaining and repairing it after successive floods “exceeds any realistic rental value”, it says.

“I spent ten years converting it at considerable cost,” he said. “Then we had the storm damage – which has cost me about £40,000 each time to repair.”

Even the flood gates and reinforced walls he installed in the wake of Storm Dennis in 2020 weren’t enough to keep out two successive floods last winter, he said.

“If someone can think of another option I’d jump at it.”

Lying near the Wellington Brook which flows through the village, the former stable is not heritage listed and has no adjacent properties or trees that would be affected by the demolition work, his application says.

The closest building is the larger Vinery, also owned by Mr Jones.

But his proposal already faces opposition from Herefordshire Council’s ecology officer James Bisset, who has said that the building offers potential features for bat roosting which “has previously been recorded in the locality” – yet “no ecology report has been submitted”.

Comments on his bid can be made until June 13.