Water tower to be turned into a designer home

An '˜iconic' water tower is to be turned in to a home under plans approved by Doncaster council's planning committee.
Sykehouse Water Tower, Chapel Lane, is the subject of a planning application. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP Water Tower MC 3Sykehouse Water Tower, Chapel Lane, is the subject of a planning application. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP Water Tower MC 3
Sykehouse Water Tower, Chapel Lane, is the subject of a planning application. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP Water Tower MC 3

The water tower, on Chapel Lane, Sykehouse, is no longer in use.

As part of the plan, put forward by Terry Hodgkinson of Terry Hodgkinson Ltd, a new floor will be added under the top of the tower to create more space and a staircase will be installed below.

The east view of the artist's impression of a proposed water town turned house on Chapel Lane, Sykehouse, DoncasterThe east view of the artist's impression of a proposed water town turned house on Chapel Lane, Sykehouse, Doncaster
The east view of the artist's impression of a proposed water town turned house on Chapel Lane, Sykehouse, Doncaster
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A glass balcony will be added at the back of the building, which will be transformed using neutral colours.

The plan for the conversion of the building, which is made mostly of concrete, was approved unanimously despite objections.

Sykehouse Parish Council was concerned the artist’s impressions looked ‘futuristic’ and the building would not be in-keeping with the rest of the village.

Hannah Wilson, planning officer at the council, said: “The proposed alterations do give it a ‘modern’ appearance however this is the best way of treating such iconic structures as opposed to trying to recreate more rural-looking features which would clash with the existing architecture.”

The west elevation view of the artist's impression of a proposed water town turned house on Chapel Lane, Sykehouse, DoncasterThe west elevation view of the artist's impression of a proposed water town turned house on Chapel Lane, Sykehouse, Doncaster
The west elevation view of the artist's impression of a proposed water town turned house on Chapel Lane, Sykehouse, Doncaster
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Neighbouring residents said they were also worried that the occupier of the house would be able to see in to their homes, compromising their privacy.

As part of the plans, there would be three small staircase windows and two thin windows into one bedroom of the home, which would be more than 35m away from the nearby properties.

According to a planning document, the guideline best practice separation distance should be at least 21m.

Planning permission was granted with a number of conditions, including that Mr Hodgkinson must gain prior permission from the authority before using any external building materials on the property.

The east view of the artist's impression of a proposed water town turned house on Chapel Lane, Sykehouse, DoncasterThe east view of the artist's impression of a proposed water town turned house on Chapel Lane, Sykehouse, Doncaster
The east view of the artist's impression of a proposed water town turned house on Chapel Lane, Sykehouse, Doncaster
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Mr Hodgkinson said: “When you take on projects like this, you live and breathe them so I’m very pleased it was approved. When the work is completed, this will be a stunning piece of architecture.

“William H Brown estate agents will now look for a buyer to take on the building in its current state. That buyer will then take on a building contractor to complete the work. The buyer will be able to decide what they want inside, two bedrooms or three, for example.”