Paul O'Grady wins planning approval to build guest house in grounds of Georgian farmhouse in Kent

Paul O’Grady has won planning approval to build a two-storey guest house with a kitchen and two bedrooms in the grounds of his Georgian farmhouse in Kent.

The TV presenter gained permission to knock down a neglected cottage next to his sprawling property in Aldington near Ashford.

It will make way for a new guesthouse which will feature a dining and kitchen space, a separate living area and two upstairs bedrooms.

O’Grady, 65, will also transform his blue-painted home by adding a sixth bedroom in the loft and an entrance lobby to ‘create a sense of arrival’. 

Paul O’Grady (pictured above, at home with his dog Arthur), 65, gained permission to knock down a neglected cottage next to his sprawling property in Aldington near Ashford, Kent 

O’Grady will further extend the study and kitchen, alongside adding a spiral staircase leading to the loft in his main property. 

The comedian, who presents For the Love of Dogs, also keeps farm animals including pigs and goats on his grounds.

Award-winning architecture firm Hollaway submitted the plan to Ashford Borough Council just before Christmas.

A survey found bat droppings in O’Grady’s loft but planning officer Rob Bewick said steps taken to mitigate the impact on the winged mammals ‘can be considered acceptable’.

It found the cottage was in a poor state of disrepair and earmarked for demolition while proposed changes to the house were ‘sympathetic to the existing architecture.’

Mr Bewick also approved the removal of five trees to improve the driveway and parking arrangements as there is a ‘good level of screening to that part of the site’. 

An artist’s impression showing what the new guest house would look like. It will feature a dining and kitchen space, a separate living area and two upstairs bedrooms 

An artist’s impression of what O’Grady’s main home would look like. He will transform the property by adding a sixth bedroom in the loft and an entrance lobby

He added: ‘While the development is within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the landscape’s character and appearance would be preserved with respect to the extensions to the existing dwelling and enhanced by the removal of the existing cottage and replacement with that which is proposed. 

‘The level of screening, high-quality design and materials would be appropriate and not result in visual harm.’

The Liverpudlian, who hit the big time as his drag persona Lily Savage, has lived at the picturesque spot for years and has opened the Aldington fete on several occasions.

Last summer, he was given the go-ahead to build a private dance studio at his property for his ballet star husband Andre Portasio, 40.

In a 2010 interview, O’Grady revealed how he found a home for Julian Clary in the village, but it is believed the fellow comedian has now moved away.