A YOUNG boy who applied for planning permission to build a house for him and his friends to live in for when they were older has been given a special award by Malvern Hills District Council.
Five-year-old Ewan Kettle submitted an application to planners to build a house he designed made out of blue, orange and yellow bricks off Townsend Way in Malvern.
The application also requested permission to build another house for his thee-year-old sister Bonnie next door.
The location was chosen specifically so Ewan could look at the animals in the nearby pet store.
Planning officials were so impressed with Ewan’s design they invited him and his family to the Council House in Avenue Road to meet the team and take a tour of the planning department.
The Kempsey Primary School pupil was also presented with a special Young Planning Applicant of the Year certificate in recognition of his application.
His mum Helen said: “He had been learning at school about what materials buildings could be made from and what they would be made of in the future and I think that sparked his interest.
“He went away and drew this picture of a house for him and his friends to live in and one next door for his sister.
“We explained that you couldn’t just go and build something you had to get permission and say what materials you would use so he did and then insisted that we sent to the planners.”
Ewan said the best thing about his visit was ‘meeting the people and seeing the large drawings’ but he had yet to decide if he wanted to be a planning officer when he was older.
Duncan Rudge, planning services manager for Malvern Hills District Council, added: “We were delighted to receive Ewan’s application and really impressed by the amount of thought he put into his proposals.
“The least we could do was invite him in to meet the planning team in Malvern and we are delighted he enjoyed his visit.”
