A father’s passionate plea has urged that construction work be allowed to continue so that he can make his home more suitable for his parents in Earley.

Manprit Vig, of Byron Road, Earley, has had builders round to create a front extension, a rear extension and a side extension to his three-bedroom home.

These extensions will eventually provide two new ensuite bedrooms, a dining room on the ground floor, and new bathroom on the first floor.

Mr Vig won approval for all of these extensions under planning reference 203275.

However, problems arose as the extensions under construction have not been built in accordance with approved designs.

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Therefore, Mr Vig submitted a retrospective plan, reference 222170, which closer reflect the construction work that has taken place – but this plan received objections from neighbours.

So the changes to the extensions were discussed at a Wokingham Borough Council’s planning committee on January 11.

Pleading with the committee, Mr Vig said: “We are a hardworking and law-abiding family.

“We absolutely wanted to follow the various rules and sincerely apologise for the minor mistakes that may have been made. We were at the mercy of the architects and the builders.

Reading Chronicle: he dormer that has been built in Byron Road, Earley. Credit: Wokingham Borough Councilhe dormer that has been built in Byron Road, Earley. Credit: Wokingham Borough Council

“We were extending our home so that my elderly parents could move in with us."

Mr Vig detailed how the move hoped to enable them to provide additional care for his parents facing numerous health conditions.

“We do not want to burden the local authority, Wokingham Council, with their social care. The extended home allows the family to have their own personal space.”

The changes were opposed by neighbours and some members of the Association of Central Earley Residents (ACER), who objected on the grounds the extensions are larger than the plans approved in application 203275 and would reduce a neighbours access to sunlight.

Tim Marsh, an ACER member who spoke at the meeting, argued that a constructed dormer is overbearing as it provides views of a neighbour’s kitchen, and a second storey rear extension that has been built casts a shadow onto a neighbour’s sun terrace.

Planning officers conceded allowing the application would result in “some harm”, but that would be “very, very localised” and not enough to warrant refusal.

Ultimately, the council’s planning committee approved Mr Vig’s latest application.