Sue council for lack of planning enforcement?

goodiegumdrops

Hi all,

We are in a very small cul-de-sac with no real room to u-turn cars.

A toddlers daycare center has opened up at the bottom of the cul-de-sac, and as part of their planning permission, they are not to use the road for parents to drop off or pick their kids up (they should use a different entrance).

They've been ignoring this, and cars along the street are getting bumped/scratched as many parents drop and pick up their kids in the morning/late afternoon. The center isn't even full yet, so it's only going to get worse.

The council don't really seem that bothered - is there anything we can do to get them to enforce the planning? Alternatively, and it's probably highly unlikely, can we somehow hold them to account for damage to our cars?

Thanks!
Nathan

agrinnall

Why aren't you holding the drivers who do the damage to account? Maybe get some inexpensive CCTV put in if you're short of evidence.

goodiegumdrops

Thanks for the reply.

You're right, and this is something we are thinking of doing.

The problem is, if we do claim, our premiums will go up (check "non fault claims premium" on any search engine). Hence, in the first instance, we'd like to try to get the council to enforce the original planning, or threaten to revoke the D1 license etc.

A long waste of time for all concerned as we'll be claiming at least once a month!

maninthestreet

Have you tried contacting your local councillor about this?

terryw

Assuming that it is a public road, anyone with a legal vehicle can use it.
Can you give the exact wording of the planning permission?

flyingscotno1

Best thing to do is to contact the planners and speak to them about the problem. In my experience planners have been fairly good with enforcement actions.

System

report the problem to the planning office and they should enforce the conditions of the approval, they might not be enforcing it at the moment as it's very likely they don't know there is a problem.
your insurance company will take care of any damage to cars, that's what they are there for, pretty sure you can't sue the council for someone hitting your car!!

agrinnall

goodiegumdrops wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

You're right, and this is something we are thinking of doing.

The problem is, if we do claim, our premiums will go up (check "non fault claims premium" on any search engine). Hence, in the first instance, we'd like to try to get the council to enforce the original planning, or threaten to revoke the D1 license etc.

A long waste of time for all concerned as we'll be claiming at least once a month!

If it's a genuine non fault claim (which I would expect it to be as long as the cars are parked correctly) then any increase in premium can also be recovered from the third party or their insurer.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

write a letter to the buisiness and outline your concerns, dont go in there gun hoe shouting, keep it via letter, handing it in and asking for a reciept for it wich includes signiture and block capitals of their name for refrence.

stipulate cars have been damaged and your aware of their planning permission restriction and that they are not adherering to these restrictions, and that if cars continue to pick up and drop off and damage vehicles, youll have no alternative but to persue the matter with the planning department to enforce the restrictions upon them.

say that you regret having to bring this situation up, and if the culdesac were wide enough and that vehicles werent getting damaged and no access to properties were restricted during these pick ups and drop offs, you would not have to bring this to attention.

if not imeadiate action is taken to inform customers of the correct entrance to the buisiness, you would have no alternative but to have planning department enforce the restrictions in your planning permission, this may or maynot result in your license being revoked, i hope this situation can be resolved before it gets that far.

anotherbaldrick

Write to Council asking them to enforce their planning condition . If nothing is settled in 12 weeks go direct to the Local Governmennt Ombudsman
http://www.lgo.org.uk/publications/fact-sheets/complaints-about-planning-enforcement/

atrixblue.-MFR-.

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Write to Council asking them to enforce their planning condition . If nothing is settled in 12 weeks go direct to the Local Governmennt Ombudsman
http://www.lgo.org.uk/publications/fact-sheets/complaints-about-planning-enforcement/

wouldnt it be better to write to the relatively young buisiness first?

i mean all young buiness tend to have teathing problems and this is a relitivly new thing for the culdesac aswell to get used to, a simple formal letter outlining the problem first would be my approach rather than being a victor meldrew and going direct for the juggular vien to potetially shut the buisiness down or mark their file over something that could be managed between residents and buisiness.

agree after communicating politely, in the event the buisiness ignores the letter then go to council, but i would first give the buiness a chance to rectify the problem.