A pensioner has gone to war with his leafy village neighbours over plans to build a Grand Designs-style eco-house to move his wife into after she leaves her care home.
David Marks, 75, wants to build an eco-friendly five-bed house in Smarden, near Ashford, Kent – but is facing a battle to get it approved.
The village’s parish council has said it strongly objects to the proposals, which it describes as an unsuitable ‘overdevelopment’ of the rural area.
Mr Marks says he is saddened at the lack of support for the new home, which will be completely off-grid, powered by solar panels and sheltered by bunds of earth.
He said: ‘I thought people would want to buy into this new technology and just to see if we can do this, which we can.
‘We will produce a completely off-grid development which I think is something that everybody would be proud of and it will provide accommodation without affecting the local infrastructure.’
Plans submitted to Ashford Borough Council (ABC) show the home will come with a new pond to manage and recycle water and will be surrounded by orchards for food production.
The idea is for the house to be built across one level so Mr Marks can bring home his wife Yvonne who is currently in a care home.
David Marks, 75, (pictured) wants to build an eco-friendly five-bed house in Smarden, near Ashford, Kent – but is facing a battle to get it approved
He said: ‘I’m hoping to live here myself because it’s just a wonderful unit and it’s all on one level.
‘My intention is to move my wife from a care home where she is at the moment so I can look after her and there’s room there for a live-in carer as well.
‘It’s completely carbon-free and it’s something that is very exciting.
‘We think it’s unique in this country, certainly in the south east of England, and I hope that it’s something that we can use as a bit of a blueprint in terms of that sort of development for other things.
‘This is too good an opportunity to miss and we think this is a perfect site for it.’
Mr Marks is the managing director of development company DaVinci Properties, which he launced in 1989 – but this is the first time he has taken on a project of this kind.
The site is part of what used to be Church Farm which previously had industrial units, converted by Mr Marks during the Covid pandemic into eight new homes.
The remaining two-and-a-half acres behind the homes is where Mr Marks is hoping to build his eco-house.
If approved, it will be an ‘autonomous’ house, which means it will be entirely self-sufficient in its day-to-day operation.
It will be made up of nine segments in a chain forming a crescent shape.
But despite the innovative design, the development has not been welcomed by all.
This is the second time Mr Marks has put forward plans for his dream home on the plot after the first proposals were rejected earlier this year.
ABC felt it did not meet the criteria to be classed as an ‘exceptional’ design and believed it would ‘encroach’ on the countryside.
Now Smarden Parish Council has said it ‘strongly objects’ to the new design as they feel ‘the application has barely changed’.
The land where David Marks plans to build an eco-friendly five-bed in Smarden, near Ashford, Kent
It adds: ‘If the proposed development was to go ahead, it would be allowing the development of green spaces and agricultural land with no benefit to the village or its surrounding neighbours.
‘The proposed area is beyond the recognised existing settlement and therefore is not suitable.
‘It will have an adverse effect on the settlement area, changing it from linear to densely clustered.’
The council is also concerned about extra vehicles using the site.
‘The existing access is already in a dangerous position where cars regularly drive above the 40mph signed limit, creating a higher risk than is already present,’ it says.
‘The ecological report mentions an area for nesting birds, lizards and the potential for bats, the land is currently an overgrown pasture area not just Blackthorn.
‘The developer has allowed the land to get into this state.
‘The nine tripod solar panel system urbanises the look and feel of the rural countryside that is adjacent to the proposed development, especially from the viewpoints of neighbouring listed properties such as Church Farmhouse, Bell Cottage, Prestbury House and the Grange.
‘There is also an existing public house in front of the development that has traded since the 18th century and has a listed status since 1980.
‘In conclusion, the development would result in an overdevelopment of the existing countryside with no apparent benefit to the current local community..’
But Mr Marks insists the application has been updated since its initial rejection and several aspects have been altered to address concerns.
If approved, Mr Marks hopes to start building as soon as spring next year – and would not rule out taking the plans to producers at Channel 4 show Grand Designs if the opportunity arises.
