help with planning permission

carole.uk

OMG so i didn't have to cut my gates down which look shabby now , I can't believe this woman has abused her power like this for a friend no wonder she didn't want me to contact the planning dept and said stay away from them at all cost they will cause more problems and i believed her!!.. thanks again planning-officer

Zazen999

Carole - do you know this woman's name?

carole.uk

yes I know her name but don;t want to name n shame in case she causes trouble would rather just keep my head down now in case i have done something wrong, i did ring someone tonight who use to be on the planning board about 5 years ago n just asked the general question about the decking & gates they said don't think there is a need for planning permission on what I have done, but would call around monday if I wanted to advise me.. i said I would let them know. on a positive have had more neighbours round today saying they heard what happened n think the garden looks lovely. not seen anything from the one who made the complaint

Milsey-Girl

Your Councillor has abused her position and has no authority to give planning advice unless she also happened to be a Planning Officer/Planning Enforcement Officer at your Local Authority. When your neighbour had complained to the Councillor, the correct process should have been for the Councillor to report it to a Planning Officer/Planning Enforcement Officer at your Local Authority for them to investigate. An officer would have then visited you directly to assess the situation and advised you if any action was required by you i.e. reduction in height of the fence/gates, submission of a planning application for the decking.

Is your friend who had been on the Planning Board an ex-Councillor or did they work in the Planning Department? No dis-respect to your friend, I'm just a little concerned that you may be receiving further advice from someone who is not properly qualified to do so? I have been a Planning Enforcement Officer for nearly 10 years and some of the Councillors on our Planning Committee appear to know less about the Planning Regulations than my 6 year old daughter :eek:

I would still advise you to telephone your Planning Department with the details of your case and ask for thier advice. You do not neccessarily need to give your address if it is a general enquiry.

I would also re-iterate that, from the information provided, it sounds very unlikely that you will need planning permission so please try not to worry too much and enjoy your al fresco dining:beer:

bostin

Carole

As planning_officer has already advised you, the views of your local councillor and a member of the Planning 'Board' (I assume the Committee) five years ago are irrelevant at this time. The test is whether you need permission or not which is a technical matter which your local councillor will have as much clue about as I do about how to service the space station! They are after all ordinary folk who have been elected to represent the communities views.
Even though I only left Development Control 6 months ago, my 'expertise' on matters such as this is fading. You really need to write to your local planning department setting out the dimensions of your decking and ask for a written response confirming whether you need permission or not in writing. This should be done before you undertake the work. As planning_officer and others have stated, it's the volume under the decking which counts, as well as other extensions which may have been added to your house.
Decking drives people crazy at times because a) it can lead to unacceptable overlooking/loss of privacy to your neighbours (both current and future occupiers (hence why planners are not always swayed by current neighbours saying they have no problems with it) and b) how it looks in terms of its impact on the existing property and the character and appearance of the area. If permission is needed, you need to make sure that you make every effort to address the two issues raised above.
HTH

planning_officer

Excellent advice from the above two posts - agree completely. Carole - all I would emphasise from the above is that you should seek advice from a qualified planning officer at the council and not from a member of the planning committee (like Milsey says, they're not qualified in planning, or at least, I've yet to meet one who is!).

Regarding the fact that you seem to have hacked your gates apart to please this interfering councillor, I would be pretty concerned about that. Personally I would follow that up with a formal complaint to the council and copy the chairman of the planning committee in too. We've got a motley collection of characters on our planning committee, but I don't think even any of them would stoop as low as this one has!

carole.uk

thank you all, I will contact the planning dept on monday even though the councillor did scare me off, for the expert advice from them so i know once & for all what the score is. where I live is ex local authority run now by a housing association. the three blocks of five on my road have all been bought by either ex tennants or private landlords same as the rest of the estate. I have houses above me that look over my garden where the works been done so will never get privacy, it was more about security We bought the house 5 years ago, and was all that we could offord at the time to get on the property ladder. the areas one of the highest areas of crime, unemployment and poverty according to the statistics. if i find out how to post pics i will do so today to show you from the start.. thanks so much for your advice and made this less of a worry

windym_2

Carole,

Planning is not straightforward. You can need it for a deck.

We needed it for a deck, not raised, just on the ground. And again for our 10x8 greenhouse!

If your property has had it's 'permitted developments' removed (article 4 direction) then you may need planning to put any structure within your boundary.

Usually, not always, properties where pd have been removed are barn conversions, new housing estates, properties in areas of outstanding natural beauty etc. You need to speak with planning to establish if this is the case and/or look at your deeds.

carole.uk

sorry post edited

carole.uk

i don't know if the link is working or any use really, the garden was already on two levals we have re built the wall, put up the fence and put the decking down
we were going to deck just one side upto the house but changed it after the councillor advice