Furious residents say a neighbour’s huge new home is like an “alien spaceship” which has landed next door.

People living around Sandgate’s Sunnyside Road have also branded the building, formerly a comparatively small bungalow, “a shed on steroids”.

Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) has formally apologised to those complaining about the scale of the new property, called Heatherbank, after an admin blunder left them in the dark about building plans.

Stuart Macintyre, who lives immediately opposite, says the home “sticks out like a sore thumb”.

“I have ended up with my wife wanting to sit in the garden for the sun and all we see now is a great black, nasty, wooden wall,” the 84-year-old said.

“It is horrendous and it has spoilt our view.”

Some neighbouring the large modern building say they learned about the development only after speaking to workers on the construction site in June last year.

Following a string of complaints to (FHDC) it emerged an admin error meant letters were not sent out informing residents of proposed changes.

And while a single planning notice was displayed in Sunnyside Road, those who overlook the home in nearby streets were not made aware of the application, residents say.

It reportedly led to the plans being green-lit with little opposition due to many residents being unaware of them, according to neighbours.

Those who claim they are affected by the home’s size are warning others living in the district to check the council’s planning portal more often so they do not suffer the same fate.

Stay informed about all planning applications in your area by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

In 2019, an application was submitted to FHDC for an increase in the height of the roof and to include three dormer windows.

Then, significantly new plans were unveiled in December 2020 alongside a revised scheme in March 2021, which shows how the building looks today.

The plans were approved in April of the same year after one resident’s objection and another from the Sandgate Society. Sandgate Parish Council did not object.

John Rhodes, who lives in flats in Castle Bay overlooking the under-construction home, says he was aware of the first planning bid but not the second.

The 70-year-old says he spoke with a worker in 2021 while builders were on the site – after the scheme had been approved – and asked what was happening.

“They told me they have planning approval for it and on December 24, 2020, an application was put in, which was the first we knew about it,” he said.

“Letters were not sent out and there was a single [planning] notice put in Sunnyside Road.”

Branding the building “a shed on steroids” due to its black wooden cladding, he added: “This was after the consultation period had come to an end.”

Originally, a white bungalow previously occupied the site but planning permission was sought for a roof conversion in 2019.

The works included increasing the ridge height, a revised roof design and changes to the balcony.

Now, stone cladding also surrounds the ground floor walls and two horizontal metal strips run around the curved building.

There is also black timber on the first floor, large windows and a balcony with a curved glass balustrade.

An officer’s report by FHDC says the proposal is considered a “high-quality design”.

It also says it would “refresh a dated building in a manner which would not significantly detract from the surrounding prevailing pattern of development”.

“It is noted that contemporary designs similar to that proposed would not normally be supported within such close proximity to the conservation area and such a prominent plot,” the report adds.

“However, given the design would reflect similar examples of contemporary buildings in the surrounding, it is not considered the alterations to the building and subsequent impact on the character would warrant refusal in this instance.”

But other residents feel differently and echoed neighbours’ concerns.

Glenn Ensor, 60, said: “The basic human response when you see what was there before and what is there now is ‘what kind of bounds of planning was this within?’ because it is such a dramatic change.

“It is like an alien spaceship has landed on top of a bungalow.”

The home is set to feature on Channel 4’s Extraordinary Extensions, which is presented by rapper Tinie Tempah, a property and design enthusiast, who follows homeowners as they unleash their inner architect.

Nicola South, whose home overlooks the property, says she wants to warn Sandgate residents “not to make the same mistakes as us”.

“We thought we had rights, we would be consulted on and we would be listened to, but that is not the case,” the 46-year-old said.

“Residents should check the planning website once a month. We were not sent out letters.

“Throughout this process, we were told to follow the proper routes, but did not have that opportunity so we could not have a say.”

She branded Heatherbank a “big, black blob” on Sandgate’s vista.

“It would look amazing in the Serengeti but not in the middle of Sandgate where there are a lot of white and cottagey homes,” she added.

“Surely any kind of development or extension is not supposed to overpower the existing area, which it does, and this is what people need to be aware of.”

A Folkestone and Hythe District Council spokesperson says the application in 2020 was advertised with a notice placed very close to the site of the home and also advertised in a local newspaper.

“Unfortunately, due to a technical error, notification letters to neighbouring properties are not believed to have been sent out,” they said.

“We have apologised to the local residents affected by this, and our process for notifying neighbours has been amended so this omission is not repeated.”

Responding to concerns about site visits, the authority confirmed they are carried out “as a matter of course”.

“A site visit was not carried out for the second application, as its consideration coincided with the national lockdowns associated with Covid-19,” they added.

“At that time government advice was that site visits were not necessary where councils had sufficient information from other sources to make a robust decision.

“In this case, we relied on a variety of sources for this information, including the officer report and site photographs for the previous application, street view images of the site and wider area, aerial photographs of the application site and surrounding properties, and Ordnance Survey extracts.

“As such, in accordance with government advice, no site visit was necessary.”

The owners and developer have been contacted by KentOnline for comment.