Three young children have their dad’s ignorance of planning law to thank for getting a treehouse.
Remco Bosma says he would never have built it in their back garden if he’d known it needed planning consent and an application costing £172.
Mr Bosma wasn’t going to tell Nick (7), Anouk (5) and Jack (3) that the worst could happen and he could be forced to pull it down – but there’s been such interest in the case that he felt he had to.
National newspapers have run stories on the fact that South Holland District Council wrote to Mr Bosma asking that he either applies for retrospective planning permission or takes down the treehouse. It’s understood the council acted upon a tip-off.
Mr Bosma (38) said: “I was very surprised to receive the letter – I wasn’t expecting that.
“I didn’t really know what to think – I thought ‘what’s happening here?’ when I saw it was a letter from the council.”
Mr Bosma, a vet with Spalding’s Riverside Veterinary Practice, built the treehouse over five weeks, finishing in late March.
It’s in a weeping willow at the family home in Low Road, Crowland, and its highest point is 3.9m off the ground.
He said: “The children saw a treehouse in a magazine and said ‘we want one!’
“They love being in it and going up and down the ladder, but I think if I’d have known it was going to cost me £172 to apply for planning permission I don’t think they’d have got it!”
The district council is due to make a decision on the application by late June.
