Planning Permission was refused. Now what?

redsquirrel_3

I hope its okay to post in this area.

I recently found out our planning permission was refused for a 3 bed chalet bungalow. The plot was part of my parents garden, which is big enough. The reasons the local council gave was that it would "intimidate" the close behind us (which the driveway would lead onto) and that it would restrict living conditions of the current house (ie my parents house).

Very unhappy obviously, because i put my life on hold for 10 months sorting this all out.

I spoke to my architect (which i myself am not pleased with - he knew that permission had been refused almost 3 weeks ago and it was only when i phoned him yesturday that he told me) - and he said I should appeal, and disagreed that it would intimidate the close behind. He said he would send me the reasons why it was refused, but even though I asked him to appeal, he didnt say much about it.

So.. I will appeal - but it could take 6 months! It would give me a bit longer to save cash, but thats about it.

What exactly do they look for in the appeal process? Will we have people come again to look at the proposed site? Do we have to make a presentation to show them that it wouldnt look out of place, or interfere with the current address?

Ive been told it can be sent to the state of state? Its all very confusing.

I wonder if anyone has been in a simular situation?

My only "hope" is that the house next door got built on an appeal.

adr0ck

for anyone to give any specific advice you need to state the exact reasons for refusal..........my best advice at the mo would be to speak to a planning consultant...............also look at the following website...

http://www.planning-applications.co.uk/

redsquirrel_3

adr0ck wrote:

for anyone to give any specific advice you need to state the exact reasons for refusal..........my best advice at the mo would be to speak to a planning consultant...............also look at the following website...

http://www.planning-applications.co.uk/

the website is dead helpful, thanks for posting it. :j

[Deleted User]

I have been in a similar situation, found an awesome town planner who knew the law inside out and made me win.

lush_walrus

Your architect has most certainly not acted responsibly in this matter, and should have let you know immediately that the planning application had been refused. The architect should also have been in touch with the planners during the course of the application and should already have known that their decision was to refuse permission prior to receiving the letter.



With planning appeals you really will need to put a good case forward, and I hate to say it but it is a very unpredictable thing. Any letters of objection will be taken into account, have their been any?

In your case it is highly likely that the appeal will go to a hearing. Where basically the application goes infront of a planning committee which is made up of non planners but council members. The planning officer will put forward his case for the refusal, you or your representative will have an oportunity to put forward your case if you wish or you can remain silent. The planning commitee will have local councilors and community people on the board generally there tends to be 10 or 12 people, and will be held in the evening as the board will be made up of people who do another job in the day.

During the meeting also one objector is allowed to speak, so if there have been local residents write letters voicing their objections one of them can enter the discussion.

During the evening there will be many other refussed applications discussed and your application will be allocated a slot within that. In my experience it is a very random thing, mainly because the people on the board are acting on personal feelings rather than facts, the planners will have already established their facts if you like in refusing.

Ive been to meetings where something which completely contravenes policy has been granted permission while something which is much less controversial has remained refused.

First thing to do is to go to the planning office and gain access to your file, generally a duty planner is available in the morning for public and can provide you with the whole file to view and copy where you choose (they charge a fortune on copies but worth it!). Things to check for are how many letters the planners have received against the development, as these are taken heavily into account. Also check for anything that you may be able to argue against.

You can get a planning advisor on board but it will incur additional fees and the deadlines will be pretty close together from the moment you appeal and as such you might not be able to provide a new person enough time to really get their head around the project. Generally these are brought in pre planning application to sound the planners out in situations where the application is risky. But your architect should have sounded the planner out really, did you have any pre application meetings with the planners etc?

I think you need to really think about whether the planners are right in their reasons, as this is what everyone who comes across the appeal will do. Forget that it is your parents house as they wont be looking at it like that, they will be thinking about the future and if two unconnected people own each of the properties then what will it be like. Is the proposal close to either your parents house or the neighbouring close? Will it make that plot of land more developed than others? Is it overdevelopment? How big is the plot in total in comparison to both properties? When the land is split into two ownerships will there be enough outdoor space to service both? Do they both have their own access from the road? Have you looked at the UDP? This will provide minimum local guidlines for space quota's etc and give you all the clues as to what sort of developments are supported locally. The UDP is based on government guidlines which have been adapted locally, they are thick documents but there could be a few key areas within your local one to tell you what direction the council and planners are working to. Things such as minimum room sizes will be in there and land usage etc. It would be worth having a look at a copy there is generally one available for the public at your local planning office, leaf through and see if there are any pointers which will back up your application, or any obvious ones which go very against it.

There are a million questions that come into my mind from reading the planners reasons, which are pretty loose. But really without seeing the plans it is impossible to form any judgement. You really have to look objectively at your proposals, as if it is a plan your neighbour has drawn up and think how you would react, what would your comments be, would you then feel that it is impossing on the neighbouring close? Or would you feel that it would make minimal difference to their current situation?

If you dont want to waste time waiting for the appeal to come up, then you can submit another application to run alongside this one. Its a ploy that a lot of developers use to save time wastage which can be costly (baring in mind inflation etc will push up construction costs the longer you delay). Would you consider adapting the plans or are they at the minimum you would want on that plot?

Lunar_2

I have recently had a very similar case, although the site had it's own access.

I prepared a planning application for a friend who has a bungalow and wanted to put a chalet bungalow in his garden. The garden itself was not huge and backed onto an existing housing estate. The site access was proposed via the existing private driveway to the bungalow.

We had a site meeting with the planning officer who gave an indication of the size and form of dwelling that the council would be prepared to consider.

The design was developed to take into account the officer's informal views.

However, the application was refused on grounds of size, policy and overlooking. We were given no guidance, feedback or comments during the application process. When I consulted the planning officer before the decision I was told that he had enough information to make a decision and that no further information was required. We were not given the opportunity to amend the scheme.

I advised my client to re-consult with the planners and we submitted the 'free go' application with a single storey dwelling and landscaped the areas where overlooking was deemed a problem.

At the same time we prepared an appeal. The inspector attended a site meeting with both my client and the planning officer present. There was no committee meeting.

We managed to obtain a planning consent for the reduced scheme, but we also managed to win an appeal against the original application. Needless to say my client has decided to progress the original (larger) dwelling.

redsquirrel_3

both been great replies much appreciated.

nadnad

i don't know about this - I've read some of your previous posts and did wonder at the liklihood of being able tobuild in your parents garden - unless of course its a huge garden. If the planning office are saying that a house would impinge on houses behind -it sounds like people living in those houses have possibly complained. Well if you do appeal - make sure you get a different architect - he doesn't sound like he's been much use.

Good luck all the same - I'm going through the trials and tribulations of self building myself.

Pennywise

Have you actually been in meaningful dialogue with the planning officers yourself or have you left it to your architect?

Some professionals, including architects, seem to get into a "locked horns" situation very quickly with the authorities. It could well be that the planners and your architect don't have a good working relationship so can't having meaningful conversations about what would be allowed.

I would suggest that you go back to basics, talk to the planners in a friendly manner and ask them what you can change to get their permission, if anything. You may be surprised as to what the problems really are. If you really don't get anywhere and the planners are being obstructive or unhelpful, then by all means go for appeal, but I think a softly-softly approach is worth trying.