Nearly three decades after a planning mistake threatened to derail his ambitions, former investment banker Simon Bowden is finally creating his dream home on Dorset’s exclusive Sandbanks peninsula.
The 66-year-old millionaire came close to losing the chance to develop his half-acre waterfront site after demolishing a rundown wooden boathouse while preparing to replace it with a luxurious five-bedroom beachside property.
The demolition not only breached planning conditions but also removed the building’s protection under a rule preventing new homes from being constructed close to the shoreline of the wealthy peninsula, often compared with Florida’s Palm Beach, home to Donald Trump.
The 90ft-long boathouse had already been converted into a residence and was protected from the newer restrictions because it dated back to the 1920s, decades before the shoreline rules were introduced.
Once Mr Bowden demolished the ageing structure, however, he was no longer allowed to rebuild his proposed home on the same footprint.
The local regulations, brought in during the late 1990s, require new properties to be positioned at least 82ft from the waterfront. The rule applies across the sought-after coastal community, which is also home to former football manager Harry Redknapp.
In 1998, millionaire Simon Bowden paid £820,000 for this Sandbanks plot, which included a dilapidated boathouse dating from the 1920s. The former building’s location is marked in red
This black-and-white image, believed to be the only photograph of the 90ft-long boathouse, shows how close it stood to the shore. Planning rules introduced in the 1990s required all new homes to be built at least 82ft from the waterfront
After Mr Bowden demolished the boathouse, he was prevented from constructing his replacement home in the same position. The decision triggered 25 years of planning disputes before work was finally approved on his new luxury five-bedroom property
The restrictions were designed to provide protection from coastal erosion and flooding, while also safeguarding the beach from further development. They followed years of concern over older, smaller homes being demolished and replaced with much larger modern “super homes”.
Mr Bowden, who has criticised other local projects as “Barratt boxes on steroids”, is now constructing a three-storey, ultra-modern five-bedroom house farther back from the sea on the wooded half-acre site.
Unlike the developments he has condemned, he says the L-shaped property will be “an architecturally distinctive house which will add to the visual interest” of the Conservation Area where it is located.
The rear garden will extend to the water’s edge, with a private jetty providing direct access to Poole Harbour.
The flat-roofed home will feature a vast open-plan kitchen, living and dining space, as well as an outdoor swimming pool. A balcony facing the sea will offer views across to Brownsea Island, the location where Lord Baden-Powell held the first Scout camp.
Its design has been carefully arranged to fit within the restricted building area, as much of the surrounding plot is covered by woodland.
More than 50 trees stand on the property and cannot be removed because they are protected by preservation orders.
Planning documents say: “The design approach adopted and careful siting amongst the mature landscape will ensure that the dwelling is viewed as a positive addition which sits comfortably within its context.”
A design and access statement prepared by Mr Bowden’s planning agent adds: “There are a number of protected trees which are important to the wider area whilst the siting of the proposed dwelling ensures that…only glimpses will be obtained from the public highway.
“From the Harbour, the dwelling will appear a subservient element sitting within its wooded setting. It has also been designed to ensure the retention of all important trees.”
The planning agent also confirmed that the house would be built entirely outside the section of the site designated by the council as a high-risk flooding area.
The original boathouse was built to go with a large house on the same site on Panorama Road.
But when it was destroyed during a World War Two bombing raid, the then owners moved into the boathouse after converting it for residential use.
In 1977 planning permission was granted to add a bedroom and two bathrooms to the boathouse as well as extend the property with a larger living room, hall and patio.
Mr Bowden has had a long running battle with planners from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council since he bought the £820,000 property in June 1998.
The following year he was granted permission to turn it into a family home with additional bedrooms, bathrooms and living space.
But instead of refurbishing the existing structure, his builders knocked 90 per cent of it down, putting him in conflict with the planning authority who said the development had gone too far – ending up with a demolition rather than an extension.
Building work was halted when the local council declared Mr Bowden was in breach of the regulations.
When the matter went to appeal in 2001, Mr Bowden and his then wife Elizabeth claimed the council had breached their human rights by denying them the rights to live in their home.
But a planning inspector sided with the local authority, concluding the demolition was ‘extensive and far exceeded what was envisaged by the 1999 permission.’
She said it would be impossible to extend something that was no longer there.
The inspector added: ‘The old boathouse has now effectively been demolished.
‘In this situation I believe that the facts speak for themselves and that other owners of residential plots on Sandbanks would be likely to want to build new dwellings within the 25 metre line if one is permitted.
‘I consider that if permission were granted in this case it would undermine development plan policy and make it more difficult for the Council to resist other similar applications for development.
‘The cumulative impact of such development would materially harm the character and appearance of the Sandbanks peninsula.’
Since then, more than 20 planning applications were submitted, a number of which were thrown out.
Others, however, were approved including three applications to build on the site, away from the beach, which were never followed up in time.
The regulations requiring Sandbanks developments to be 25 metres from the beachline are part of a statutory local plan.
The rules apply to houses and properties while ‘minor ancillary structures such as single storey boathouses, shelters, slipways and groynes’ are exempt, subject to planning permission.
In recent years, Sandbanks has become the scene of a series of ‘battle of the balconies’ planning rows amid the growing number of owners packing modern glass-fronted homes onto relatively few narrow plots which overlook the sea in the millionaire’s playground.
In one high profile case, celebrity interior designer Celia Sawyer accused her millionaire next door neighbour Neil Kennedy of ‘illegally’ building a balcony – which meant he could peer into her garden when she was sunbathing in her bikini.
Earlier this month it was revealed a four bedroom beachfront property which sold for a whopping £5.4 million just 22 months ago is set to be demolished so an even bigger house can be built in its place.
The new home will have a large open plan living area, four bedrooms, a study, a gym, a jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, a lift to all floors and balconies to the front and back.
Once completed, estate agents estimate it could be worth £10million.
Just last month, Mr Bowden hit out at plans to demolish a 115-year-old Arts and Crafts house on the peninsula.
The property called Cama was owned by the camping tycoon Oswald Bailey and remained in his family for 80 years until it was sold by his four grandchildren.
David and Heidi Nash bought the property for £6 million earlier this year and now want to knock it down and replace it with a five bedroom mansion with a swimming pool.
Mr Bowden – who has opposed local developments which he has branded ‘Barratt boxes on steroids’ – is now building a three storey ultra-modern five bedroom home further away from the seafront on the half acre plot
Mr Bowden said: ‘Cama is the most unique Arts & Crafts house on Sandbanks, the only comparable house… was knocked down earlier this year.
‘Replacing such a historic house is a great shame, especially as the replacement dwelling is a very poor pastiche of Arts & Crafts, but sadly typical of the new style of Sandbanks Barratt Boxes on steroids.
‘It has absolutely zero architectural merit.’
Referencing the level of backing for the plan from fellow Sandbanks residents, Mr Bowden said: ‘I see there were many letters of support, all from people who are recent migrants to Sandbanks and who also live in ugly houses.
‘When it’s gone few will remember the quality architecture on Sandbanks.
‘No doubt this will get approved, but the effect on Sandbanks of these fake houses is highly negative.’
Mr Bowden has previously complained of ‘too much low quality over-development’ in Sandbanks branding one project ‘visual barbarism’.
He was less forthcoming about his own development and declined to comment when approached by the Mail.
