Residents upset by roadblocks, ripped-up verges and mess plaguing the Gloucestershire beauty spot

Arlington Row, in Bibury, as tourists to the Cotswolds like to see it. / Photo / Thinkstock

A Cotswolds street described as the prettiest in England has been turned into a “bomb site” by a cottage renovation.

Residents said Arlington Row in Bibury, Gloucestershire, has become a “mess” because of years-long works to Grade II-listed Rosemary Cottage.

The renovation has left the tourist hotspot with churned-up verges and blocked roads for two years, according to residents.

Victoria Summerville, 69, said she was forced to look “out over what looks like bomb site” on Awkward Hill, where the cottage is having roof tiles replaced and an oak conservatory and underground garage built.

“My common boundary with that cottage is the wall at the bottom of my garden and so instead of looking out at grass, a cottage or vegetable beds, I felt that in two years I’ve looked out over what looks like a bomb site,” she said.

“They never seem to do anything very fast and the contractors say it is because the owner keeps changing his mind about what he wants to do.”

She added: “For me and all my other immediate neighbours it is the inconvenience and the mess. These huge vehicles come up a lane that was originally a kind of track between the two halves of the village.

“It is wide enough to get a car and to get a bin lorry [through]. But these massive vehicles come up with supplies on it.

“I have lost count of how many cement lorries have come up in the last weeks. When they unload at Rosemary Cottage nobody can get up and down the hill for the village.

“You can’t drive out a lot of the time because of the lorry blocking the lane. You can’t even walk down to the village because there is a lorry blocking the lane.”

Another resident, who declined to be named, said he was “very unhappy” with the renovation.

“I believe the extent and nature of the works are inappropriate for a small, listed cottage on the ancient byway that is Awkward Hill,” he said.

“There is constant noise, disruption and inconvenience due to daily toing and froing of trucks and heavy machinery, destruction of verges on Awkward and Hawkers Hill.”

Craig Chapman, chairman of the parish council, said “all of the verges have been ripped up” in the village.

“There’s a turning area at the top that has been significantly damaged,” he said.

“We had a further three planning applications to consider and we’ve had enough, and on behalf of the residents we’re saying this has to stop and we will objecting to the applications.”

In response, architects Spirit Architecture Ltd said the parish council was responsible for delays to the work because it asked for “additional flood-risk assessments”.

Matthew Hollingsworth, from the firm, said: “The access is a single lane narrow hill so it is tricky. This work would be complete by now but was delayed as additional flood-risk assessments were required after a parish council comment. The report concluded that there was no flood risk.

“There are some landscaping works which have planning approval which are being undertaken – the work takes time with the limited site access, hillside site and being drystone-faced.

“Finally, two of the current applications made are for the repair and maintenance of the fabric of the listed building, generally seen as a good thing.”

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