Reasons to oppose planning permission?

HugoSP

Doozergirl wrote:

......If they have an objection it automatically goes to commitee even if the objection is unfounded. It means weeks longer of waiting for your neighbour and you will just serve to upset them

Not necessarily as I understand.

If the objection is invalid, ie it is not suitable grounds for objecting (such as effect on value of neighbouring properties) it is unlikely to make a difference at all.

However, if the objection is valid but the planning officers don't see it as an issue, they can still steer it away from Committee. An example would be where the concern of loss of privacy is raised but the planning officers don't see this as an issue with the proposed development.

andrew-b

perc wrote:

Yes as when we moved in there were two huge trees on that side of our garden which we took down as they were cutting the light out to our patio.

And cutting down established trees in order to light your patio is a good reason i suppose? Sounds more like an obsession with light to me!!

Andy

HugoSP

andrew-b wrote:

And cutting down established trees in order to light your patio is a good reason i suppose? Sounds more like an obsession with light to me!!

Andy

Be fair on the OP. Many of us have taken the amount of natural light into consideration when buying a property. Ok so there are no guarantees in life but when someone's proposed plan may impact upon the enjoyment of your property it is natural to be concerned.

There are planning rules that stipulate acceptable effects on light via windows. IIRC a building should not impose on a 45 degree line in any direction drawn from the centre of the window in question. I looked into this a few years ago for the benefit of my neigbour when I was considering applying for an extension on one of our properties

magyar

HugoSP wrote:

We have an application in and made a point of seeing all the neighbours as soon as it went in. We spent 90 minuits with one neighbour and repeated our invitation to them to come to us if they have any concerns.

Our reward - they put in an objection. I felt that we had completely wasted our time in talking to them.

Surely if they were able to put in an objection, you'd already made an application? Therefore what else could they have done?

HugoSP

magyar wrote:

Surely if they were able to put in an objection, you'd already made an application? Therefore what else could they have done?

They could have discussed it with us first, as I suggested above.

They owe me nothing but I personally would have expected some courtesy from them (after spending 90 minutes discussing it with them), which could have extended to their stating their concerns and listening to our assurances.

If they still felt that they would wish to object after discussing it with us then I would have had no issue with that. After all it is their right to do so.

I respect their right to object, it's just the lack of thought on their part I was disappointed with.

magyar

HugoSP wrote:

They could have discussed it with us first, as I suggested above.

They owe me nothing but I personally would have expected some courtesy from them (after spending 90 minutes discussing it with them), which could have extended to their stating their concerns and listening to our assurances.

If they still felt that they would wish to object after discussing it with us then I would have had no issue with that. After all it is their right to do so.

I respect their right to object, it's just the lack of thought on their part I was disappointed with.

Appreciate that, Hugo. I suppose that people are not always very confident or assertive at the time.

perc

andrew-b wrote:

And cutting down established trees in order to light your patio is a good reason i suppose? Sounds more like an obsession with light to me!!

Andy

There were trimmed but not cut down. And yes we do like our house and garden to be light. Is there anything wrong with that?

seven-day-weekend

HugoSP wrote:

There are planning rules that stipulate acceptable effects on light via windows. IIRC a building should not impose on a 45 degree line in any direction drawn from the centre of the window in question. I looked into this a few years ago for the benefit of my neigbour when I was considering applying for an extension on one of our properties

Not all Authorities use the 45 degree rule.

Debt_Free_Chick

perc wrote:

There were trimmed but not cut down. And yes we do like our house and garden to be light. Is there anything wrong with that?

No, there isn't. But there will be "an acceptable" level of light for planning purposes. It could be that lose some light, but that you are left with "an acceptable level of light". If so, then your neighbours will get their PP. But you cannot insist on getting the "maximum" possible light.

Planning regs are there to strike a compromise. If permission could be refused simply because one neighbour lost "some light" then there would never be any development - and that wouldn't be fair on those who want to make good use of existing properties by undertaking modest development.

It's difficult to appreciate, but your neighbour is as entitled to extend his property as you are to expect a reasonable level of light.

HugoSP

HugoSP wrote:

Not necessarily as I understand.

If the objection is invalid, ie it is not suitable grounds for objecting (such as effect on value of neighbouring properties) it is unlikely to make a difference at all.

However, if the objection is valid but the planning officers don't see it as an issue, they can still steer it away from Committee. An example would be where the concern of loss of privacy is raised but the planning officers don't see this as an issue with the proposed development.

I feel I ought to reflect my own ongoing experience.

There was one valid objection to my submission. By 'valid' I mean that the objection met the criteria to be considered alongside my proposal, but wasn't necessarily agreed with by the council. Hence in accordance with the practices of our local council, the planning officer responsible for my case went to the district councillors in my ward and sought their agreement to be decided by delegated powers.

As I understand it the district councillors agreed that the decision should be via delegated powers and not by committee, which should hopefully speed things up.

I suspect that Doozegirl's local council operates slightly differently. I don't think all councils follow the exact same process.