A devoted husband who spent thousands converting his front garden into a drive to help his sick wife has been ordered to rip it up by the council.
Stephen Price, 65, said on-street parking was so bad on his road he laid the drive to help his wife Kim, 67, whose several health struggles means it is difficult for her to get in and out of the house.
But the plumber was later told he did not have planning permission for the work – and has been ordered to revert back to his original garden.
He said: ‘I dug it all out and then the council got in touch and said I might need to put it all back.
‘At the moment I’m £5,000 into this build. To put it all back – we haven’t got the money to do it anyway.’
The couple have lived in their semi-detached home for 44 years and say when they first moved in they could always get a spot outside the house.
But over the years families have added more cars to their homes and parking has become a ‘nightmare’, as the fight for spots has led to ‘arguments and disputes’ between neighbours.
His wife suffers from a long list of serious health problems including heart failure, two types of achalasia, diverticulitis, pernicious anaemia, osteoarthritis and low blood pressure.
Stephen Price, 65, said on-street parking was so bad on his road he laid the drive to help his wife Kim, 67, whose several health struggles means it is difficult for her to get in and out of the house
Mr Price spent £5,000 converting his front garden into a drive (pictured) before he was ordered to rip it up by council officials
Due to her complex issues, the great-grandmother often has to attend appointments at hospital or her GPs – but says she struggles to get in and out of the house due to the parking.
Mrs Price said: ‘Due to the low blood pressure sometimes my head is just spinning and I sometimes fall. If my husband has to park up on the hill it makes it very difficult for me.
‘I hardly leave the house unless I have to. I have lived here [in Hengoed] all my life and I don’t want to move.’
Mr Price said parking issues on his street in Hengoed, Caerphilly had made it very difficult for his wife to get in and out of their home and so he planned to make the sloping drive leading to his front door.
‘There are only 12 houses on our street and when we first moved in there were only about five cars. Now if everybody is in or people have visitors over there can be 25-30 cars, it’s a nightmare,’ he said.
‘We have to park out of the street, we desperately need extra parking.’
He said he paid £300 to have a drop kerb installed outside their home 20 years ago after ringing the council to say he planned on installing a drive.
He said: ‘They never told me then I needed planning permission. They just told me I needed to pay this £300 – which is about £600 in today’s money – that’s all they said.
Over the years families have added more cars to their homes and parking has become a ‘nightmare’, as the fight for spots has led to ‘arguments and disputes’ between neighbours, Mr Price said
‘I had the kerb installed and now I want to know if I was miss-sold this. They were happy enough to take my money.’
The plumber believes the work required to ditch his driveway plan and rebuild his garden will cost him a further £11,000-£13,000 that he doesn’t have.
Planning officers recommended refusal of the application for retrospective permission saying there had been ‘extensive excavation and loss of the raised front garden.
Cllr Nigel Dix urged fellow councillors to ‘show a bit of compassion’ and overrule the planning officer to allow the drive but others disagreed.
Chairman Cllr Roy Saralis said he had a ‘tremendous amount of sympathy’ for Mr Price and that he had the right to appeal.
He added: ‘Obviously it’s a sad situation, but planning is planning.’
The outraged husband said he will appeal the decision.
