Wrong windows cost home £150k (From Surrey Comet)

Wrong windows cost home £150k

5:26pm Wednesday 22nd February 2006

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A Surbiton nursing home is facing a springtime of upheaval because its windows are inappropriate.

Jag Grewa, managing director of London Residential Healthcare Ltd failed to get permission from planning bosses to install uPVC windows when he renovated Bourne House in Langley Avenue, Surbiton four years ago.

Now he has until May to replace them with timber framed alternatives and faces a £150,000 bill or face prosecution.

Mr Grewa admits not applying for planning permission was "an oversight" but argues that uPVC windows which open only eight inches are the only option for a home with 40 residents, all suffering from dementia.

He said: "We have made a special effort to make the windows look like wood and I don't feel they are out of place.

"They stop the patients jumping out and I've got some residents who are over 70 and would never be able to open a wooden sash window. But the council won't budge on this.

"I simply don't have the money to change 70 windows and where would the residents go? This is their home."

Mr Grewa has worked in the nursing home business since 1996 and also owns Hamilton and Southborough House down the road.

Unfortunately all three buildings are in a conservation area which incurs strict planning rules.

Andrew Kirby, an inspector hired to oversee Mr Grewar's appeal in April 2005 described the windows as wholly inappropriate.

He said: "Collectively they impart a marked and different appearance and character to the facade of the building. It is harmful to the architectural integrity of the building itself and to the character and appearance of the conservation area."

sgreenwood@london.newsquest.co.uk

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