Paul Hollywood has won a three-year legal battle to build a walled kitchen garden at his £1million farmhouse in Kent. The Bake Off star's plan to film cooking programmes in the Grade II-listed property was previously scuppered by planners, but he has now been given the green light to demolish the conservatory to make way for the extension.
Three-year planning dispute
The 60-year-old first submitted a plan for a rear extension in 2023 but later withdrew the application to apply for a bigger kitchen. Local council officials had ruled it would be an "unsympathetic" and "inappropriate" addition to the property.
The farmhouse features four bedrooms, two bathrooms, an orchard, a poultry run, and sits upon an eight-acre estate in Smarden, west of Ashford in Kent. Hollywood lives there with his wife Melissa Spalding and his Maine Coon cat.
Filming plans approved
Hoping to film a cooking show from home, Hollywood handed in a new plan for a "pavilion style extension complete with a glazed link". According to The Sun, his planning agent said: "The proposed extension is needed for ad-hoc filming for the house's owner, Paul Hollywood, who is a well-known TV personality and celebrity chef."
The agent added that the existing kitchen "is not large and is too narrow for filming purposes - the cameras cannot be set up adequately to obtain the required shots", while the proposed kitchen would "provide a suitable space for these purposes" and enable "the filming of a unique documentary of Paul Hollywood cooking from home". They said the extension would be "of social benefit to the public" and viewers could enjoy an "engaging and enhanced experience".
Revised scheme accepted
The local council approved the extension after Hollywood reduced the size from 20ft to 19ft and cut the depth from 21ft to 18ft. They also approved plans for a walled kitchen garden with fruit trees and raised beds for vegetables and herbs.
The council added: "The conservation officer is content with this revised scheme and considers that the proposal represents a considerable improvement on the previous refused scheme, more in keeping with the character and appearance of the existing listed dwelling."
They continued: "Whilst this style of wall is considered to be more appropriate for a higher-status country house, as the wall only relates to the enclosure of the kitchen garden, it is not considered reasonable to object to this element of the proposal."
