Disused land next to my property now becoming car park

scarletjim

I moved into my detached house 4 years ago. At the time, some land adjacent to my rear garden was disused, full of overgrown plants etc. This week, two fellas have been using a big digger and other machinery to clear and level it. They tell me it will be used as a small car park for the vets situated on the other side of the road. This causes me a few concerns, for example:

- I know they can't change residential to business use without approval, but how can I know whether or not they have that approval? There is nothing on the planning permission site, but would that kind of work need planning permission anyway?

- My main concerns are noise and potential crime - am I worrying unduly? Obviously the cars will make some noise, but is crime more likely do you think?

- The digger is making my house and bed shake - is it safe for my foundations etc?

- In terms of actions for my property, I already have security cameras - should I just increase the height of my garden fence on that side, or does anyone have any other bright ideas?

Me and my girlfriend are quite worried about this, so any thoughts, advice, reassurance etc would be gratefully received - thanks.

maninthestreet

Re: Planning Permission - try phoning the council planning department to discuss this development, and whether it needs planning permission.

missprice

scarletjim wrote: »

I moved into my detached house 4 years ago. At the time, some land adjacent to my rear garden was disused, full of overgrown plants etc. This week, two fellas have been using a big digger and other machinery to clear and level it. They tell me it will be used as a small car park for the vets situated on the other side of the road. This causes me a few concerns, for example:

- I know they can't change residential to business use without approval, but how can I know whether or not they have that approval? There is nothing on the planning permission site, but would that kind of work need planning permission anyway?

- My main concerns are noise and potential crime - am I worrying unduly? Obviously the cars will make some noise, but is crime more likely do you think?

- The digger is making my house and bed shake - is it safe for my foundations etc?

- In terms of actions for my property, I already have security cameras - should I just increase the height of my garden fence on that side, or does anyone have any other bright ideas?

Me and my girlfriend are quite worried about this, so any thoughts, advice, reassurance etc would be gratefully received - thanks.

I don't know about planning so will deal with the rest

Vets are usually open 8 to 5 or 6pm cant see there being too much noise from that.
Vets are not a crime Haven that I have ever known.
I had major works outside my house when a whole road was being replaced. My house shook for a week or more but it's still standing, no cracks.

If you increase a fence height,less people can see in to see if something bad is happening.weigh that up with less people will be able to scale the fence, assuming no gate in that fence!

I don't see pet owners in general as worse or better than non pet owners, but crime is always a possibility wherever you live.

AnnieO1234

Planning permission may not be required if it is classed as a "temporary" car park. It may be that permission was originally granted as part of the development of your homes, perhaps the original car parking was where your homes are.

It is unlikely in 2016 to be a bunch of blokes squatting on land with a ticket machine, but it could be someone chancing their arm.

If I'm honest it sounds like you're being a NIMBY, a car park run well won't cause you problems. I would recommend anti-climb paint on the exterior sides of all your fences (if they all belong to you), "cat" spikes on the tops (again if they're yours) and ensure that your doors and windows are secure. Xxx

Silver-Surfer_2

missprice wrote: »

I don't know about planning so will deal with the rest

Vets are usually open 8 to 5 or 6pm cant see there being too much noise from that.Some are open until 9pm some midnight. They may even do out of hours emergencies.
Vets are not a crime Haven that I have ever known.I think the op is concerned about undesirable being attracted to the car park.
I had major works outside my house when a whole road was being replaced. My house shook for a week or more but it's still standing, no cracks.

If you increase a fence height,less people can see in to see if something bad is happening.weigh that up with less people will be able to scale the fence, assuming no gate in that fence!

I don't see pet owners in general as worse or better than non pet owners, Maybe not he actual customers they're worried about. but crime is always a possibility wherever you live.

Look on the bright side, it may remove some of the congestion off the road.

Sofitos

Was there some notice about this changes/work? When someone are going to built smth or change territory status they should get planning permission. And then council should notify residents about this changes - usully the hang ads on the pole or some public place.
You should discuss situation with neighbours and write complaint to the city council that you wasn't notified properly and this work wasn't agreed with you. And do it ASAP

scarletjim

Thanks to all for your thoughts.

Yes it is the 'undesirables' that the car park may attract that we're concerned about more than anything else. I like the anti-climb paint and 'cat spikes' ideas, will definitely look into them.

No there was no notice anywhere about this work, but do they need any such notice to remove plants and level off the ground? I've been through all the council planning guidance pages, and I can't see any reference to this, so perhaps not. And as for 'change of use', the problem is I've no idea who owns the land or what it's original use was. Perhaps it always was intended to that purpose... Wish I'd investigated it a couple of years ago, who knows, maybe I could have bought it and built a house for my mum to live in now she's in her 70s.

Think I will phone the council on Monday morning and see what they say. As suggested above, I may have no need to worry, but no harm in just speaking to them. Cheers.

peachyprice

Why would a clear car park attract more undesirables than a piece of overgrown land with plenty of scope for hiding in?

Why would someone be more likely to climb your wall from the car park where they could be easily seen rather than from the overgrown land where they couldn't?

PasturesNew

Where/how people park is something for the planning department. I phoned mine about a planning application for some houses next door and she said it won't get approved due to the location of the car parking area and its proximity to other properties - in particular, all the cars would be parking up to the same fence - and that fence is the entire left hand fence of the house in the next road (as the new builds are a corner plot).

So, they are interested in parking arrangements/layouts as well as any change of use - and might even enforce restrictions on hours of parking.

Silver-Surfer_2

peachyprice wrote: »

Why would a clear car park attract more undesirables than a piece of overgrown land with plenty of scope for hiding in?

Why would someone be more likely to climb your wall from the car park where they could be easily seen rather than from the overgrown land where they couldn't?

Simple really because it's clear.

peachyprice

Silver-Surfer wrote: »

Simple really because it's clear.

Not really, that makes no sense, 'undesirables' are more likely to hang out and get up to no good in a place where nobody goes and where they can't be easily seen than an empty clear car park where they can be easily spotted.