Garden grabbing!

chjh

I was looking for advice in dealing with a planning application to build 2 4 bed detached houses on garden land that will be sold by existing home owners to facilitate this. I am doing this on behalf of my father, he is 84 and not computer savvy! He lives directly next door to the house that is planning to sell part of their garden to enable this build. He is strongly opposed to this and requested that I write a letter for him opposing the planning permission. He is concerned re garden privacy, the houses being out of character with the surrounding houses, and whereby he looked into his garden and saw other houses in a cul de sac at the end of the garden he will now have a large house approximately next to the half way point in his garden. It will be an 'eye sore', and it will look out of place among the other houses but I need to put together a constructive letter outlining valid points as to why planning permission should not be passed.
I have done some research this afternoon, it's a very dry and complicated subject I have also checked our council website (South Staffordshire) but cannot find anything on the criteria they work with, planning requisites etc
Any advice would be much appreciated as I really want to help him, he is not being objective and will only write an emotional letter whereby I believe by attempting to produce valid evidence against this proposal may be the way forward.
Many thanks in advance.

moneyistooshorttomention

P.M. sent.

Good luck.

jk0

I suppose there is no way you could persuade Dad to sell part of his garden also, is there?

I know my old man wasn't up to doing much gardening when he was 84.

chjh

jk0 wrote: »

I suppose there is no way you could persuade Dad to sell part of his garden also, is there?

I know my old man wasn't up to doing much gardening when he was 84.

Thank you for your reply.No, my father loves his garden! He spends hours, weather allowing, sitting reading his newspaper and watching birds, squirrels, bats at dusk. More to the point I live next door to my dad so any building would then affect me! The proposed house next door to my dad will block my afternoon sun as it is (bye bye greenhouse!)
Unfortunately this problem re buying gardens to build on is quite a problem in our village, I suppose you cannot blame the sellers, they are making a significant amount of money.

jk0

chjh wrote: »

Thank you for your reply.No, my father loves his garden! He spends hours, weather allowing, sitting reading his newspaper and watching birds, squirrels, bats at dusk. More to the point I live next door to my dad so any building would then affect me! The proposed house next door to my dad will block my afternoon sun as it is (bye bye greenhouse!)
Unfortunately this problem re buying gardens to build on is quite a problem in our village, I suppose you cannot blame the sellers, they are making a significant amount of money.

Oh, that's interesting chjh. I wonder if there is a little opportunity there for you when Dad goes to the big garden in the sky?

Perhaps sound out the developer to see if they could provide access to your two gardens in the present plan?

chjh

jk0 wrote: »

Oh, that's interesting chjh. I wonder if there is a little opportunity there for you when Dad goes to the big garden in the sky?

Perhaps sound out the developer to see if they could provide access to your two gardens in the present plan?

Thanks for reply. Not sure what you mean re access? My dad already has access into the cul de sac at the bottom of his garden, this is where the new houses will be built (top of the cul de sac), I have no access as the house at the top of the cul de sac faces sideways at the bottom of my garden. Very difficult to explain
My dad would never sell part of his garden, he doesn't need the money. I suspect my mum and dad's house will stay in the family so new neighbours selling isn't an issue.

Looby_-_Lou_2

I would speak to the Parish Council and find out when they will be discussing the application (by law there will have to be a public meeting to do so - whatever they claim to the contrary :cool: )

They are your elected representatives and therefor their response to the application should reflect the views of residents. Do they have a Parish/Community Led PLan to give guidance on their response? Are they considering a Neighbourhood Plan?

It may be worth looking on the Planning Authority's website to see how other people have responded to other applications to get an idea of the type of language used.

You can also call the planning department direct and speak to the relevant Planning officer for some advice - just try not to sound too emotional as this really doesn't help nor does suggesting the applicant is a money grabbing individual (or any other moral judgement however tempting or indeed true).They can only consider planning reasons for objections whatever the real motives of the applicant.

Good Luck this type of development can really blight some communities.

toerag33

We had this problem several years ago. I went to the citizen's advice and was given a lot of information on how to oppose it. Neighbours proximity to the proposed new build determined what grounds they were allowed to object on. An elderly gentleman drew a 3D drawing showing how different people would be affected by it. Letters were written by everyone - 1 letter per person not per household.

Good luck

bouicca21

It helps if there are objections from more than one individual, but not using a standard letter.

Worth concentrating on impact on character of neighbourhood, loss of privacy if applicable, increased traffic, Parking difficulties, unacceptable increase in housing density, visual impact.

What about likely impact on wildlife - will the bats be disturbed? I think all bats are protected so impact on their roosts, either by destruction or blocking their access, will be taken into consideration.

martindow

Planning objections only bear any weight if they refer to the planning policies of the council. You need to look these up and avoid any other irrelevant issues such as loss of view or disruption during building works.

Each council will have its own criteria - here is an example

http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/planning/residents/objections/

chjh

Looby_-_Lou wrote: »

I would speak to the Parish Council and find out when they will be discussing the application (by law there will have to be a public meeting to do so - whatever they claim to the contrary :cool: )

They are your elected representatives and therefor their response to the application should reflect the views of residents. Do they have a Parish/Community Led PLan to give guidance on their response? Are they considering a Neighbourhood Plan?

It may be worth looking on the Planning Authority's website to see how other people have responded to other applications to get an idea of the type of language used.

You can also call the planning department direct and speak to the relevant Planning officer for some advice - just try not to sound too emotional as this really doesn't help nor does suggesting the applicant is a money grabbing individual (or any other moral judgement however tempting or indeed true).They can only consider planning reasons for objections whatever the real motives of the applicant.

Good Luck this type of development can really blight some communities.

Thank you for your reply and advice. I have looked at previous applications as you suggest, yes it certainly helps if you can use their language!
I will be phoning the planning department today.
I cannot find any evidence of a Neighbourhood Plan nor a Parish/Community led plan. I have also studied the County council website in order to see if this build contravenes their Local Development plan, the website is a nightmare and I went around in circles for hours. I have e mailed them asking for the relevant link. This is very time consuming, feel as if I'm back at Uni with all the research!