Millionaire developer at war with irate neighbours demanding he rip down ‘monster’ mega-mansion ‘built illegally’

NEIGHBOURS next to a millionaire developer’s “mega mansion” are demanding it be torn down after it was erected without planning permission. The monster-sized property on the edge of Bath has been constructed significantly higher and with a larger footprint than originally approved the local council. Resident Tavis Hamilton lives next door to the massive house and has spent ten years battling developers Credit: SWNS The property has been described as the biggest newbuild in the city of Bath in 100 years Credit: SWNS Tavis Hamilton, 48, who lives next door, has spent 10 years battling developers and is now one of more than 100 locals to lodge formal objections. With the seven-bedroom building, owned by Thomas Worrall, now “topped out” and nearly complete, a retrospective application has been submitted to validate the changes. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Local residents claim the situation highlights how multi-millionaires are able to exploit loopholes during the planning process – but the owner insists he’s “not the bad guy”, adding: “I just want to finish the job and move in with my family.” The property is believed to be the biggest newbuild in the historic city of Bath for a century. Bath and North-East Somerset Council declined to comment on the build, stating enforcement action would only be considered after the fresh application has been determined. Mr Hamilton said: “It is an absolute mega home – it will prob be worth more than £3million when it’s finished. “It is enormous and dwarfs all the cottages. You could fit around 24 of the other cottages into the footprint.” He noted that the building work has spanned three years, but now it is topped out, the full scale and height are exposed. Most read in The Sun With the building now ‘topped out’ and nearly complete, a retrospective application has been submitted to ‘validate’ the changes Credit: SWNS Locals fear the council has left it too late to carry out any meaningful enforcement Credit: SWNS He added: “It just shows how unfair the process is. It seems if you put the wrong guttering on your house or use the incorrect glazing, the council jump on you for enforcement. “But you can build this enormous structure without the right planning permission and no enforcement is carried out until it is too late.” More than 70 residents attended a recent site meeting to express their anger while construction continued. Mr Hamilton explained that permission was initially granted for a low-lying, single-storey structure built into the hillside, but workers backfilled the excavation with concrete after striking groundwater. The end result is a property positioned in a different spot and standing significantly higher than planned. The plot has passed through three owners since 2007, with successive planning applications seeking to increase its height and prominence. Council enforcement teams conducted a survey confirming multiple deviations from approved plans, including altered orientation, siting, height, volume, and footprint. Mr Hamilton said: “The new application has been submitted as part of a wider game to avoid enforcement action. The monster-sized home on the edge of the historic city has allegedly been built significantly higher and with a larger footprint than what was approved Credit: SWNS Owner Thomas Worrall says he’s ‘not the bad guy’ and has defended the plans Credit: SWNS “The changes are so significant and widespread that all the rest of the drawings from roof light location also require total update.” He called for a cease order on all works, adding that had concerns been acted on when concrete was poured two years ago, the damage would have been far easier to rectify. He added: “They have just pushed on and built whatever they wanted, with a slap dash, ill considered, gung-ho approach with total disregard to the approved plans.” He described the process as deeply stressful, explaining that residents felt powerless while watching the character of the lane and nearby listed church be altered. He added: “Some want to see it just torn down. It is an extreme measure and I don’t know if Bath and North East Somerset would ever enforce that. “But it would be lovely to see it just built as it should have been.” Mr Hamilton noted that his family are now sandwiched between two of the largest single residences built in Bath in a century. He recalled that when previous excavators hit groundwater, they dumped rubble into the hole before selling, resulting in a structure that sits atop the hill rather than within it. He said: “It has finally been propped up and reached roof height and it is taller than the listed church next door. It is monstrous.” Another local objector stated on the council portal that the sheer volume of variations showed the developer treated formal approval as a mere box-ticking exercise. They warned that approving extensive departures would create a dangerous precedent, rewarding unpermitted development that inflicts measurable harm on the environment. Local ward district councillor Joanna Wright backed the residents, calling the development outrageous and questioning why enforcement had failed to stop it. She said: “They are told they cannot do things and that is the end of it. Yet this developer ignores all that, they know the process so keep carrying on and jumping through all the hoops to get what they want. “It is the reason people don’t trust politics and the planning process.” Cllr Wright stressed that the build has severely impacted neighbours along the narrow single-track road, with windows now positioned right beside adjacent properties. She added: “They should be made to tear it down. Why are they getting away with it. “It is one rule for a wealthy person – they get what they want by playing the system – and another for everyone else.” Bath and North East Somerset Council confirmed that the retrospective application is “currently being determined” and “formal enforcement action will only be considered” if it is refused. In a design and access statement, agents for the applicant said the amendments were necessary for safety after encountering saturated ground and unstable foundations. They asserted that the team tried to keep the building as low as possible and maintained that the actual scale and overall look above ground had hardly changed from approved plans. House owner Mr Worrall defended the build, explaining he purchased the site with existing planning permission simply to build a family home. “The whole street has been against me from day one,” he said. “I only bought the site to build my own house with planning permission already on it. Someone else took it all to planning seven years ago. “There have been complications on the ground and the professional builders were not able to make it work so it was a little bit higher to start with.” He continued: “The neighbours all seem to think I have screwed the system and been sneaky. But I am not. “I’ve now pulled all my guys off site and trying to deal with the planners.” He explained that ground complications forced builders to raise the initial height and drop plans for a basement swimming pool, leading him to halt work entirely. He added: “I am not the bad guy everyone seems to think I am. “I just want to finish the job and move in with my family. Once it’s complete it will be a lovely building.” Mr Worrall apologised for the inconvenience, promising the completed home would feature a green grass roof and that no further work would take place until planners were completely satisfied.