PARTIALLY built million-pound mansions ordered to be demolished were up to a third bigger and in different locations than allowed, a planning inquiry has heard.

A four-day inquiry has begun into the appeal against Bolton Council’s decision to enforce demolition of the five incomplete houses and a garage at Grundy Fold farm, off Chorley Old Road.

The inquiry heard from plot holders and their lawyer and from Bolton Council, which ordered the building to be knocked down in 2018 after multiple breaches of planning regulations were found.

Planning permission was granted for the conversion of the former farmhouse and four new homes around a central courtyard in 2014.

Then developers Sparkle demolished the farmhouse and began building afresh and partially constructed four new homes in the wrong locations and with different dimensions than agreed.

The inquiry is considering two appeals from the house owners, one against the demolition enforcement and another to try and overturn a decision on a subsequent amended planning application.

Ward councillor Bob Allen spoke to object to the way the dwellings were built.

He said: “The area is characterised by open fields, moorlands, isolated cottages, farms and golf courses. The local authority has acted entirely within its powers to call a halt to the development.

“The latest application does not get anywhere close to the courtyard type development originally approved.”

Cllr Allen told the inquiry plot one on the site had 31 per cent bigger footprint than allowed.

He said plot two was 19 per cent larger than the plans, plot three 32 per cent larger and plot four 33 per cent bigger and plot five, the farmhouse two per cent larger.

Both plot one and four were ‘a significant distance’ from where they were supposed to be and some of the properties were up to 40 centimetres higher than approved.

He said: “What was built was almost certainly a deliberate attempt to build a development which would not have been approved.”

Planning inspector Jason Whitfield has said as part of the inquiry he will visit  Grundy Fold Farm.

The house owners claim the enforcement notice issued by the council to demolish the homes was excessive and too harsh to remedy any breach in planning regulations.

Legal representative for the householders, Killian Garvey, said: “The appellants lives have been upended for the last four years. Many will be left in financial difficulty.

“These are unusual appeals. This is without question the most emotional appeal I’ve been involved with.”

Ian Ponter, for the council, said: “The appeal site was sold after planning consent for four dwellings was granted in 2014.

“A considered approach was taken to design and layout and was found to be acceptable.

“The scheme was a hamlet around a courtyard. That design was important given the site’s location in the greenbelt and the rural nature.

“That was bought by Sparkle Developments who then sold the plots individually. Development got underway in 2016 and was a significant departure from the consent given in 2014.

“The farmhouse was demolished and five homes were built over a wider area.

“We say that is harmful to the landscape. We say that this is a sub-urban development.

“The latest scheme still comprises inappropriate development in the greenbelt.

“Neither the enforcement scheme or the latest scheme are appropriate.”

Elan Raja, one of the householders, who owns plot one, addressed the inquiry.

He said: “I was informed when I bought the house in 2016 that planning permission was in place.

“I was content to leave matters to the developers and architects.

“I assumed the development was being carried out according to consent.”

He said he had paid £1.057m for the plot and had now spent more than £215,000 on the rental of an alternative property and other costs.

He added: “The stress is amplified by the prospect of further financial loss.

“As of February 2020 the developers Sparkle have not contributed any costs or advice.

“Following the deveoper’s withdrawal the homeowners took control of planning matters.”

He said he faced having his potential home demolished and had suffered severe stress and anxiety coping with the immense demands of the matter and had suffered cardiac problems as a result of stress.

He said the home would have been for himself and his wife and two children, along with his elderly parents.

He said: “It has had life-changing consequences for me.

“I feel trapped in a vicious circle with deepening financial pressures and effects on my family.”

“Every day feels like I’m waking up to a nightmare.

“The best way to describe it is a pressure cooker.”

He said he had launched litigation against the developer but “they had disappeared”.

He said: “They refuse to take responsibility for what they have done.

“I can understand if one house was wrong but not the whole development.

“We’ve had endless meetings with the council to try and sort out the situation.

“We have tried to work out a reasonable solution.”

Alison Thompson, the owner of plot five, the former farmhouse at Grundy Fold said that she and her husband had paid more than £900,000 for the plot in 2016.

They had sold their existing home in Bolton and their second home in Bowness-on-Windermere to fund Grundy Fold.

She said the first she heard of any issues when she saw a report of the enforcement action in The Bolton News.

She said the impact had been ‘overwhelming’ both emotionally and financially on her family.