'It's lunacy': Couple ordered to tear down cladding to their Sussex village home

Former airline pilot Steve Shephard and his partner Anita Rains said: “It’s ludicrous.”

The couple were granted planning permission from Horsham District Council to renovate the property – a cottage in Blackstone, near Woodmancote – and used a local architect and building firm to carry out the works over 18 months.

"The house was in a bad state of repair when we purchased it, and we submitted plans for remedial work, the demolition of an ugly extension and removal of pebble dash facings,” said Steve.

Part of the £250,000 redevelopment included installing new cladding. “In order to blend in with a neighbouring house we used wood effect cement cladding, which was more expensive than wood, but was recommended by the architect to give fire resistance and sustainability,” said Steve. “It is difficult to tell the difference from more than a few yards away.”

However, Horsham District Council has now ordered the couple to remove the cement cladding and replace it with wood. The couple have appealed but have been told the existing cladding must go.

"It seems lunacy to take the whole lot down and replace it with wood,” said Steve. “Although you can get fire-resistant wood, it is obviously flammable. It’s completely daft.”

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He said that he and Anita had received more than 20 letters of support from local residents and added: “The Horsham conservation officer stated that in his opinion the cladding should remain as it is, however our appeal has been rejected and several tons of cement cladding will go to landfill and we will be at greater risk of fire danger.”