how & who do I complain to

fatpurse

Im not where to post this so I'm trying it here.

My & my partner have applied for planning permission to build over our garage. Our planning consultant has submitted the plans, being careful to make sure that all planning regulations have been adhered to. Our neighbour who we knew would complain, has complained, twice. And the problem is that he is the local residents committee leader, or was until a company took over not long ago. He is friendly with the parish council obviously as he has had dealings with them re the management committee. So our neighbour has got his friend at the parish council to write to our planning officer at the local council to say it should be refused, in fact the letter from the parish council is almost the same as the neighbours own complaints letter.

Our planning consultant called the planning officer to get an idea of what she was thinking & she told him she was going to refuse our plans. Our planning consultant said there are no legal grounds to do this but she will be bowing to pressure from the parish council.

I believe our neighbour is abusing his position here and his friend at the parish council has no right to be intervening. No one has come out to see the properties and I just dont know what to do & who to complain to. If we dont get permission then ok, but its the corruptness of it all thats wrong. Any advice appreciated.

st999

Go to the local newspapers about corruption in the council. Do not threaten do it.

Stan

maninthestreet

You might find this useful:

http://www.standardsforengland.gov.uk/CaseinformationReporting/Makingacomplaintaboutyourcouncillor/

JCS1

You can ask the Parish Council to have access to the relevant minutes under Freedom of Information Act. You don't have the right to be given copies, but you do have the right to inspect and make notes. You need to put your request in writing.

Zazen999

On what grounds are the plans being refused?

planning_officer

This is ridiculous (said in the nicest possible way). This has nothing to do with 'corruption'! The planning officer will only refuse the application if there are valid planning reasons for doing so - it makes no difference whatsoever whether the Parish Council object etc. Your planning consultant is obviously of a different view, so you could always appeal the refusal. In my experience, private planning consultants do try and get away with as much as they can sometimes - they are not always right!

Like the poster above helpfully says, on what grounds is the application likely to be refused? Could be design and impact on the street scene, or could be impact on neighbours - it may be something that can be easily sorted out with a subsequent application.

fatpurse

Hi thanks for the replies.
When the planning consultant called the planning officer, he asked on what grounds might it be refused, Im not clear on the exact conversation but I think it is because it will be obtrusive apparently. The letter of complaint from my neighbour & the parish councils letter state that it will make our house too big for its plot - we are not increasing the footprint whatsoever, just building over existing building. We have kept the roof low, it has been designed to fit in with the style of neighbouring properties. The letters also state that our neighbour will need to have his lights on during the day due to the loss of light, its rubbish, I wish someone would come out to view the properties but apparently I am not able to request this. Neighbour (&parish council) also state that his side garden will be overshadowed, he doesnt have a side garden!

Its obvious that the parish council person has written the letter with our neighbour as the same wording is used. If the wording was true then I wouldnt have known but as its mostly false on both letters I know for sure.

I have a meeting with the planning consultant next week & I guess he will mention making the extension shorter but really that would be pointless as the furthest part of the extension affects no one because of the position of our house (we are positioned further forward than anyone else). Sorry if some of this is hard to understand its difficult for me to explain it properly.

neilmcl

Submit the application and if it's turned down then you can appeal. The appeal process will be outside of the Parsih Council's hands.

4743hudsonj

Why not google map link us to your property to explain it, with streetview we can get an idea of why it may be refused.