// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Bowie house plan too big for street, locals say
David Bowie lived in the grey house in the middle from the age of eight until he left home
People living near David Bowie's south-east London childhood home have objected to plans to turn it into a visitor attraction, saying a scheme expected to draw 20,000 people a year is too much for a quiet suburban street.
The Heritage of London Trust (HOLT) has applied to Bromley Council to restore 4 Plaistow Grove, where Bowie lived from the age of eight to 20, and build a visitor centre in the garden.
Residents say the entrance, parking and evening events have not been thought through.
HOLT said the project would "bring value to the area".
Ruth Dickie lives next door at number 6. The 14 sq m visitor centre, at 3m tall, would stand against her garden fence and rise almost a metre above it.
She said she had felt "sick" since the plans were announced, and was considering leaving the house she shared with her husband Jim, who died two years ago.
"He had Parkinson's and dementia so this was a safe place for him. The garden here was our solace. I pottered while he sat," she said.
HOLT said the centre was in line with other garden buildings nearby and designed "explicitly to reduce our impact on nearby properties".
It added: "By ensuring that visitors are kept on site, briefed within an enclosed building, and spend a limited amount of time within the garden, we will all act to reduce both visual and auditory impact for our neighbours."