Planning Permission Refusal - Unfair?

Fuzzyness

sorry also meant to say, precedent doesnt hold much weight in the wonderful world of planning. just becasue someone else has done it doesnt mean you can. it makes it harder for the council to say no, but they still can if they want to.

Fuzzyness

one final point. you only have 12 weeks to submit an appeal from the date of the decision on the original application so you're already at least 4 if not 6 weeks through this period.

teneighty

You added post #7 as I was typing mine so I missed the detailed information.

I think your architect needs to get more involved and advise you on your best way forward. They know the local area and should have known about the new policy so are best placed to provide expert advice.

Also going back to my previous comment about modifications. Aswell as submitting the appeal would it be worth submitting a new application with say conservation rooflights instead of dormers? That would seem to address the "visual bulk to the roof" issue. At least you may get a compromise scheme to fall back on if the appeal fails. But your architect is probably the only one who can advise you properly.

Good Luck

djsunset_2

Thanks for your help Fuzzyness. Of course we will appeal if they don't change their mind, however this is both costly and time-consuming. A "slightly smaller extension" would in fact look more out of place than what we proposed given that we proposed what neigbors have already.

The Planning Inspectorate is completely independent , I presume? Do they put weight on precedent rather than the Council's policies and would they likely take into account the fact that I am at a distinct disadvantage compared to neighboring buildings? Also is there any way to reclaim costs if an appeal is successful?

djsunset_2

Teneighty: Rooflights are there already but the headroom & usable space is restricted compared to the others on the terrace which why I applied for dormers instead. Unfortunately the architect did not know about the Council's new policy.

I don't know whether to argue that the policy is in itself unfair/discriminatory, or whether in this case it has been misapplied. But surely when they say proposed developments must account for "pattern of neighboring buildings" this includes neighboring buildings which have themselves been altered?

Fuzzyness

djsunset wrote: »

Thanks for your help Fuzzyness. Of course we will appeal if they don't change their mind, however this is both costly and time-consuming. A "slightly smaller extension" would in fact look more out of place than what we proposed given that we proposed what neigbors have already.

The Planning Inspectorate is completely independent , I presume? Do they put weight on precedent rather than the Council's policies and would they likely take into account the fact that I am at a distinct disadvantage compared to neighboring buildings? Also is there any way to reclaim costs if an appeal is successful?

the planning inspector would take into account the fact that neighbouring properites have been altered in a simialr fashion to what you want to do but he would still need to take into account the updated conservation area appraisal and its interaction with the Council's own policies on development in conservation areas and whether these outweigh the existing pattern of development to the rear of yours and your neighbours houses.

is there anyway you can go down the permitted development route?

could you DM me the planning application reference and which local authority and i'll have a quick look.