Air conditioning unit on side of neighbour's house - best approach?

Monsternextdoor

I can't wait for the next installment in this saga. 

Will it come with actual pictures of the unit ? who will play the planning officer and who will play the hysterical housewife ?

Maybe the neighbours are aliens and its not a AC unit but a communication device. 

This has all the makings of a sci fi budget horror.

metron

Chumy said:

This thread just made my day!
OP is so sure of the outcome

No additional advice required

I had good advice from some people, and I considered all the sensible posts. The rest I just laughed at, and felt a little sorry for the posters who obviously live in a different world from the one we live in round here.

Following the advice, I formulated a plan of action, which is now in place.  We have very clear advice from the Planning Department urging us to make a complaint, but to be fair to our neighbours, with whom we get on perfectly well, we shall discuss the issues arising with them before we do anything.

I strongly suspect, looking further into all this, that they've been misled by the company selling the thing, and if that's the case they'll change the position without charge. We're not exactly talking about large sums of money, whoever pays for the work.

I'll feed back in due course, but meanwhile leave all the trolls to have their fun.  

swingaloo2

metron said:

ciderboy2009 said:

OP - You probably won't believe this but you need to be aware that it's highly likely that retrospective permission will be granted regardless of any objections you raise.  The council won't risk the expense of enforcement proceedings for something as minor as this.

Also bear in mind that your neighbour will see any objections you raise so will more than likely be able to work out that it was you who reported them.

We had neighbours build a massive extension without planning permission.  We weren't bothered by it but another neighbour logged a complaint with the council.

They were told to apply for retrospective permission.  They did so, and the application was rubber stamped despite breaking various rules and there being 3 or 4 objections raised.

One other thought - how well do you know the neighbours?  Are you certain that they've installed the AC for comfort purposes rather than something like a medical reason?

Perhaps, but bearing this in mind, they seem very keen on enforcement - I imagine attitudes vary according to where you live, and in this area units like this are very unusual indeed. I've never seen one on a domestic property, and the one next door has become a bit of a local talking point because of its visibility as you walk by:

"What was interesting was the comment that they were aware of the misinformation being put about online by companies selling the units, and they were actually keen to make an example of people ignoring planning by taking enforcement action.  They were positively begging me to make a complaint!"

We know the neighbours pretty well - good relations.  I have no intention of going behind their back with Planning - if I do that it will be openly, and with their full knowledge.  Planning objections are a commonplace - nothing unusual at all.  It's a rural area and people aren't keen on eyesores, and neither are the planners.

It's definitely an AC - and the reasons for the installation are known, and not medical.

A village full of NIMBY's and snobs by the sound of it. How can a white/grey box on a wall be classed as an eyesore.  Heaven help those who dont tend the gaden properly.
Just out of interest, If you 'know the neighbours pretty well-good relations' then how come you have not simply spoken to them before all this and asked them about the possibility of lowering the box. That would seem the logical, friendly way to go about things so why on earth have you not alread had a chat with these people you have good friendly relations with.

Monsternextdoor

And what if they have not been mislead and genuinely don't care ? You seem to think that all people are reasonable and in my experience it's usually not the case. 

What if it is for a medical need that they don't want to tell you about and retrospective planning gets granted ? 

What do you do then, even if the law is on your side what if it all goes in the favour of your neighbour.

swingaloo2

metron said:

Chumy said:

This thread just made my day!
OP is so sure of the outcome

No additional advice required

 The rest I just laughed at, and felt a little sorry for the posters who obviously live in a different world from the one we live in round here.

No need to feel sorry for anyone, I expect most will see it as a blessing!

okigen

Heatwaves will come more often with increased intensity due to global warming, so I suspect in the next 10 years AC will become the norm rather than exception. OP may want to withhold their objection to the neighbors in case in the future they will need AC themselves.

Adsta

Doc N is right, each to their own. All live in very different areas and situations. 

We don't know your village, it sounds like one of those, everything has to be in correct form and pristine type areas. I do not mean this sarcastically, I have come across these types of places.

I personally wouldn't want to live in that type of area. Not my type of place.

I'd be interested to hear about it. I didn't realise there was planning permission required and considering I installed these for a while. Albeit a side gig for me quite a few years back.

Good luck with it.

TheArsenal

metron said:

RelievedSheff said:

I think you have bigger problems here then your neighbours installing air con/heat pump. It is far from normal for your wife to be crying over the neighbours installing a box on their wall.

I seriously doubt the view is the problem given that the view was presumably the wall of the neighbours house before and it is a view of the neighbours wall with a box installed now!!

I suppose that depends on your particular view of what's 'normal', how sympathetic a person you are, and what you're used to in your area.

We live in a pleasant village, where people consider their neighbours, where visual appearance matters a lot to people, and where people ordinarily comply with the planning laws designed to protect people from unsightly additions.  By and large developments and additions have been sympathetic to the village, because most people are from the general area and don't want to damage the environment that they value. Occasionally somebody moves here from London, where different rules apply, talk about how nice the area is, and then start trying to 'Londonify' it with huge metal gates, floodlights and things like air conditioning units. It never goes down well, and our visitors (and the seller of the house, who still lives here) are horrified at the monstrosity that's been stuck high up on a very visible wall.

I’m sure the conversation has probably moved on from this but this really blew my mind. Heaven forbid someone installs an air con unit on their house or lights or gates. Do you realise they own their house the same as you own yours? You must be a nightmare to live near. 

As for crying over someone installing an air con unit. Wow. 

You keep mentioning the ‘potential’ issue for noise but haven’t said it actually does. Why worry about ‘potential’ noise? I pray your new neighbours don’t have a little baby anytime soon! 

BikingBud

metron said:

Chumy said:

This thread just made my day!
OP is so sure of the outcome

No additional advice required

I had good advice from some people, and I considered all the sensible posts. The rest I just laughed at, and felt a little sorry for the posters who obviously live in a different world from the one we live in round here.

Following the advice, I formulated a plan of action, which is now in place.  We have very clear advice from the Planning Department urging us to make a complaint, but to be fair to our neighbours, with whom we get on perfectly well, we shall discuss the issues arising with them before we do anything.

I strongly suspect, looking further into all this, that they've been misled by the company selling the thing, and if that's the case they'll change the position without charge. We're not exactly talking about large sums of money, whoever pays for the work.

I'll feed back in due course, but meanwhile leave all the trolls to have their fun.  

It's OK Angel will be along shortly

Monsternextdoor

BikingBud said:

metron said:

Chumy said:

This thread just made my day!
OP is so sure of the outcome

No additional advice required

I had good advice from some people, and I considered all the sensible posts. The rest I just laughed at, and felt a little sorry for the posters who obviously live in a different world from the one we live in round here.

Following the advice, I formulated a plan of action, which is now in place.  We have very clear advice from the Planning Department urging us to make a complaint, but to be fair to our neighbours, with whom we get on perfectly well, we shall discuss the issues arising with them before we do anything.

I strongly suspect, looking further into all this, that they've been misled by the company selling the thing, and if that's the case they'll change the position without charge. We're not exactly talking about large sums of money, whoever pays for the work.

I'll feed back in due course, but meanwhile leave all the trolls to have their fun.  

It's OK Angel will be along shortly

 :D:D