Best Way To Object A Planning Application? Hes At It AGAIN!! UPDATED 19/06

RAS

Originally Posted by harryhound
What is the density in terms of homes per acre (or probably per 100,000 sq meters in new money)? i havent got a clue. But a lot of the bungalows round here have medium-large gardens

then it is "out of character for this area"

How out of scale is the proposed new home in terms of height and area.
(The developer will salivate over the prospect of 2 stories ?). well in the 2 roads it joins this is the only semi detached house all the otehr properties are bungalows

How is access gained to the proposed building plot? there is road access to get to the plot

Am I right in thinking we are talking corner plot ? (Yes!) yes it is a corner plot and the garden is all to the left hand side of the property.

Can you attack it on highway grounds (Paying tribute to the infernal combustion engine, disguised as safety concerns) i dont think 2 or 3 extra cars would make a difference in the road!! -

No what will it be like getting safely out of the drive onto the raod - Highways issue


Are the sight lines OK? i dont know what you mean by this sorry!! As above

How near is the driveway to the corner? the driveway would be about 20 meters from the corner

How wide is the road? the road is approx 10 meters wide at a guess

Do a 1000 kids walk to school past the proposed access? nope

What does the local parish council, or any other well respected body you can think of, think of the development? i going to get in touch with my local counciller today and see what he says about it. Good - even better if he is due to be re-eclected next MAy

Start a petition? will this really work??? it was one of my ideas - yes

How about campaigning for a tree preservation order on every stick on the site or have they been "wise" enough to cut them down already? the !!!!!! has cut them down already as he is a tree surgeon and knows the rules inside out - check whether there were tPO on them anyway

Can the site get access to all its services, without going through your land? yes it can they did offer to buy a piece of our garden for the house garden but we refused.

What is you neighbour's motivation? Retire to the new house and flog of their existing home? a young bloke looking to make a quick buck. He has admitted to us he cant afford to live in his house without doing this project.

Are there any listed buildings or conservation areas adjacent to help your case? no

Any native wild life like badgers? no

When the original landowner sold the land on which the houses of you and your neighbour were built, were there any restrictive covenants, especially "estate" covenants (Our planning system started after WW2, before that developers would sometimes give powers to purchasers of the houses they built to stop over development by individuals). no, no covenant. it was an elderly man who lived there and the house was sold when died - the original owner of the land before the house were built not the guy who died recently

In the final analysis what is the value of a building plot in Christchurch? Are we talking notorious Sandbanks prices? (Footballers' Wives anybody).
Perhaps there is still time to offer to put your home into the equation, knock down both existing properties and put 5 on the resulting combined site? nope nothing like those prices. The price for the plot would be about 70K i think

divadee

i have done a door knock and a leaflet drop tonigth and got a very good response. A lot said they would write letters and 2 people have asked me to write letters and bring them for them to sign which i will do.

I dont mind writing the letters as one family dont speak very good english and the other is an elderly lady who doesnt really know what to say. So if I didnt write them then i doubt they would get a letter off at all, so better this way.

Still waiting for the local councillor to call me back but his wife did say it will probably be tomorrow as he is busy today.

i will keep you all updated on my campaign!!

seven-day-weekend

Just to say that when I worked in Town Plamnning duplicate letters WERE counted (someone here said their council took no notice of them), every one, so were petitions and in fact any petition that arrived had to go to the Head of the Planning Committee.

So get as many objections in as you can. It won't be refused SOLELY on the number of objections, but they will add weight to your case.

Don't forget objections need to be purely on Plannning grounds such as not being in keeping with the area, contrary to the UDP etc. House price values and the motives of the applicant cannot be taken into consideration.

Good luck!

Debt_Free_Chick

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Just to say that when I worked in Town Plamnning duplicate letters WERE counted (someone here said their council took no notice of them), every one, so were petitions and in fact any petition that arrived had to go to the Head of the Planning Committee.

So get as many objections in as you can. It won't be refused SOLELY on the number of objections, but they will add weight to your case.

Don't forget objections need to be purely on Plannning grounds such as not being in keeping with the area, contrary to the UDP etc. House price values and the motives of the applicant cannot be taken into consideration.

Good luck!

I think I was trying to say that if you have a valid objection, on planning grounds, then it's valid i.e. you don't need any supporters.

But I agree - especially if the objection is "borderline" on planning grounds, then extra "weight" can be useful.

divadee

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to debt free chick and matto for all there help and support. I honestly wouldnt have been able to write such professional letters so quickly and there help has been invaluable.

I really coulndt have done it without them.

There generosity has overwhelmed as they have given up time and put so much effort in to do this. This is why i love MSE the help people get is amazing.

Thank you both so much :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T

harryhound

Hi divadee,

I think you have done a crash course in planning principles in the last few days. You are starting to think like a planner, no longer my plot versus his plot. We have discussed how the vehicles get out of his plot; there will be standards about the type of road and distance from corners and the splay required. It sounds to me like a nice wide typical housing estate road. Any trees in the verge that would need to be cut down?
How is the sewage going to get out? Probably as simply as the car(s). All this should be clear when you read through the planning file - probably better to read it in hard copy at the council offices, rather than over the net; you might find some interesting margin notes.

Now, after the 5% elation has to come the 95% determination. Unfortunately our adversarial legal system is likely to leave you "dagger's drawn" with you neighbour.

You now have to get all your supporters onside. It is helpful to appear to be more than a one objector band. For example, you might collect the petition but someone else could write the covering letter, when it gets sent in.

It looks like you are up against a bit of a young chancer? He and his mates, probably know the ropes, but it is still worth learning the letter of the law yourself, if only to demonstrate to the overworked (well they think they are) local authority officers that you are a fellow professional, not just some middle class NIMBY winger. They will then realise that this application cannot be nodded through and has to be checked properly.
If you have something valuable, like a petition, send it recorded delivery and put that on the covering letter. There are web sites that can help you understand the ever changing rules (it is a bit like income tax, there is a constant stream of "guidance" being sent to local authorities, and believe me, "Chancer's" advisor will be reading every one, looking for a chink in the rules. (I am personally hoping to see a change coming along that says I can build a conservatory without asking for planning permission - I am in the green belt and have more than used up my allowance for extensions)).
You could spend a lot of money having someone cross check the planning application, or become an expert yourself - I believe "Which?" does a book on the planning system.
It is probably a good idea to have a copy of your neighbour's title and plan from the land registry (modest charge on-line and you never know what you might find) Old covenants can be tricky to track down and they might say something to the effect that all future developments of a value more than two hundred pounds must be submitted with a fee of ten guineas to Grabbit and partners at an address that is now under the new traffic scheme (personally I think the Land Registry should write to the owners of a restrictive covenant every 12 years demanding a fee of say 100 pounds to keep restrictions, that are often silly old nonsense, on the registers - conveyancing clerks used to be paid on piece rates, so the more restrictions they put on a piece of land, the more they got paid.) You might find a building line or a height restriction. Even if it might never be enforced, the developer might have trouble selling the resulting house, which will devalue the plot. Nobody wants a letter from a firm of solicitors demanding lots of money for a breach of covenant.

On the subject of the plot value, I think you are under estimating:
http://www.plotfinder.net/CountyList.aspx?q=Dorset.

Are you prepared to keep open communications with your neighbour?
If "Chancer" can get away with the concept of two stories, then every other bungalow is at risk of "bungalow gobbling" - building an extension and incorporating a second story.
Are you prepared to agree to a single story development?
There is probably a game already going on with the planning department, where "Chancer" applies for two stories and then agrees to one, in exchange for not having to go to appeal, honour is satisfied all round - let's go for a game of golf.
Do the details on your neighbour's land certificate suggest he can afford to go to appeal (Sub-prime lender ?).

Good luck with your new full time hobby - do let us know how it all pans out in 6 months time.

Harry.







.

divadee

thanks harry that info is great.

to answer a couple of your questions no i dont think he can afford to go to appeal. He admitted to us about a year ago that he cant afford to stay in his house without splittind the land and building a property, that was when he was trying to buy a piece of our back garden. He has a 200k 100% mortgage and i think its interest only.

The road is not very wide you could have cars parked on both sides and a small van would not be able to get through. So people only tend to park on one side of the road.

He is a complete chancer, he is a wide boy that trys to be your best pal when he wants something (ie our garden) when we wouldnt give it to him he hasnt spoken to us since :rolleyes:

myself and the neighbours have said a small low roof level bungalow would be acceptable, as there would be no light or privacy issues with this.

terese

sorry, but having privacy in your garden an issue?

Maybe because I live in London

Every house that I ever lived in, the garden is overlooked.

divadee

terese wrote: »

sorry, but having privacy in your garden an issue?

Maybe because I live in London

Every house that I ever lived in, the garden is overlooked.

yes in london and many other areas it is like that. And i am also sure that you bought your property like that as well.

Privacy in gardens where you used to have lots of privacy and also the new property being able to look straight into your living room, that a big issue.

matto

I am sure this would go to appeal if refused by the council. Planning appeals are pretty cheap and you can DIY, particularly if you opt for a written determination rather than a hearing.

However, the system, IMHO, is biased in favour of the applicants. If it doesn't go the applicants way they can invoke the planning appeal procedures. If the application is granted the only recourse for objectors is through the High Court.

I would add that I agree the applicant is playing the game and probably expects to end up with permission for a bungalow.