A woman from Bourne End has been given the green light to build a boat house office on the River Thames – despite objections over its size and precedent for development on the riverbank.

Sarah Waring’s plans to knock down a 1960s summer house on the other side of her house and the Thames Footpath were first considered by Buckinghamshire Council back in spring.

The single-storey mixed material building, made from glass, timber cladding and concrete, was forced to undergo several amendments before being approved this week, however.

Some of the changes – a 1.8 metre hedge between the office and the Thames path, for example – were designed to reassure concerned locals like Louise Sutton, who said the visually intruding structure would “impact the feeling of space and openness” on the stretch.

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Jennie Phenix, clerk of Little Marlow Parish Council, objected on the grounds that it was “too big for the site and sets a visual precedence on the riverbank” – something that was similarly taken into account in the amended size of the build to 2.5 metres high and 3.5 metres wide.

The boat house’s location on greenbelt land also meant it had to prove a net biodiversity gain – something Sarah pulled off by proposing a “floating ecosystem” for swans underneath the new structure.

And it's likely that planning officers were convinced by the argument that a collection of other single-storey summer houses have already been similarly converted along the riverbank.

The plans were recommended for approval by officer Yee Chung Hui on October 14 and given the final nod by planning and environment official Eric Owens on the same day.