Nice People Thread Number 10 -the official residence of Nice People

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

Random/sudden and wild weather waves are arriving. First was an hour ago - horrendous rain/wind and lightning/thunder directly overhead. Lasted 15 minutes in total.

Another flash freak episode has just whipped up.

Fence held to date.... I'd touch wood, but that'd mean going outside and touching the fence, which might then collapse

Crivens!

Low 30s temperature here today. Some wind. It's great bushfire weather. **sigh**

Doozergirl

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Isn't the £2 bottle of wine now a fiscal impossibility; unless you buy it in Calais? [Anything with alcohol in it is really dirt cheap, were it not for the government's ability to get away with sin taxes on it]





I thought we were now in a new system, where the planners get more money, extract more development gain from the developer (and get to keep their jobs) by saying yes.
"Sustainability" seems to be the watchword where you fill in half a dozen pages of a tick box form, the answers are graded red amber and green (geddit) and score points. Get enough green points and the local authority then knows it will lose at the planning enquiry and so rolls over.

Please point me in the direction of this magic form!

The NPPF "Presumption in favour of sustainable development" is written all over everything. On planning applications, in the case officers reports, appeal statements, inspectors reports. It doesn't seem to mean much. The council refer to their own Supplementary Planning Guidance and their own future plans and still make their decisions on that. I am sure that with a big enough bank account that yes, they can be rolled over but for the little guys it isn't possible.

I contacted our local MP after our last application was rejected who wrote a letter to the Head of Planning. Considering that through two planning applications we couldn't get the case officer to call us back or converse on anything, to the point that we had to turn up at householder planning surgeries (to which we weren't allowed!) she was on the phone to me like a shot. I've been completely traumatised by the whole thing that I've only now after a year got the guts to go again for it. The only way we will do it is by playing politics. Naive, naive little doozer.

PasturesNew

The other one is having to pay into some affordable housing scheme/similar if you want to build. I've seen the odd plot here and there that says the plot's for sale with PP and an obligation to pay into the Local Housing pot ..... well, that then makes it unaffordable for me to build a little house for me to live in locally.

It actually usually works out that I'd be paying extra so that a couple could have a bigger house than mine built for them at a discount ... even though their combined income is 4-5-6x what my maximum income could ever be.

John_Pierpoint

A month or two ago Ashford in Kent was more or less complaining that the planning department had not been offered enough possible sites for its future development plan.

Here is the latest situation.

http://www.ashford.gov.uk/site-submissions-2013

GDB2222

Hi guys, I'm back. Nothing has changed in the GDB household except that we are a fortnight older than when I last posted, and very marginally fitter.

There have been around 2000 new posts since I was last here, so please don't be hurt when I say that I have not read them all. Is everyone still okay? Any major triumphs I can applaud or catastrophes I can sympathise with?

Doozergirl

Welcome back, GBD.

I think mainly good news since you left. Viva got the all clear from her tests, which is super. Big dog made it through her op and she is okay for the moment.

Mrs Generali is poorly though, so we're making sure our Gen is okay.

Some people have gone back to work, others are stringing the break out as long as possible

silvercar

GDB2222 wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm back. Nothing has changed in the GDB household except that we are a fortnight older than when I last posted, and very marginally fitter.

There have been around 2000 new posts since I was last here, so please don't be hurt when I say that I have not read them all. Is everyone else still okay? Any major triumphs I can applaud or catastrophes I can sympathise with?

How to summarise without making anyone feel left out?

and not mention stuff that happened before you switched off?

I think you knew that sadly Mr Bugslet passed away.

Viva got the all clear on her health scare, though I'm not sure you knew she had a health scare.

You've missed a lot of posts about cooking utensils and oven features.

Pastures is propping up her fence at regular intervals,

Probably missed something important.....help me out folks.

PasturesNew

GDB2222 wrote: »

Any major triumphs I can applaud

Yes.

Our thoughts today are with bugslet on the sad occasion of the funeral of Mr Bugs.

Viva got good news results to recent tests.

Most of the rest is just us/our families being well/unwell, doing stuff/not, buying stuff/not, eating stuff/not .... and a smattering of the weather.

Welcome back.

GDB2222

Fantastic news about Viva!!!! Hooray!

I was aware about poor Bugslet. I hope she is bearing up okay? This is a particularly difficult time of year.

Mrs Gen - I'm really sorry to hear that. All my wishes for a speedy and full recovery.

Further down the scale, Big Dog is good news. PN's landlord's fence doesn't seem a big issue. Cooking utensils and ovens - not really my thing, I'm afraid.

I emailed someone, got an out of office reply AND a real reply, so some holidays are not quite 100%.

PasturesNew

GDB2222 wrote: »

I emailed someone, got an out of office reply AND a real reply, so some holidays are not quite 100%.

And/or, some people forget or don't know how to turn off the OOOReply.