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

swingaloo2

metron said:

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.

Wow, perhaps its fortunate that I will never be rich enough to move into such a village where appearance matters more than having friendly neighbours.  Where newcomers are not welcome unless they fit into the accepted image of the residents.

If your visitors are truly horrified at a box which has been 'stuck high up' on a wall then they need to get out more. 
What a ridiculous over reaction. 

I live in a pleasant village which is full of pleasant people even if the people opposite me have 'shock horror'  solar panels on the roof and the people next door have a home made 6ft tall 'scarecrow' in the front garden which all the children like to look at.  They are lovely people, even if the man is from 'down south'.  I only know that because we made them welcome when they moved in rather than vetting them.

Ramouth

I have some sympathy for the OPs wife.  When something is added to a view you are used to it can really stick out.

Once the unit has been there a while you will probably find you hardly notice it though.  Humans are very good at visual editing.  Ever gone to take a photo of a lovely view only to find that there are cables, fences, signposts etc in the foreground that you hadn’t noticed?

metron

swingaloo2 said:

metron said:

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.

Wow, perhaps its fortunate that I will never be rich enough to move into such a village where appearance matters more than having friendly neighbours.  Where newcomers are not welcome unless they fit into the accepted image of the residents.

If your visitors are truly horrified at a box which has been 'stuck high up' on a wall then they need to get out more. 
What a ridiculous over reaction. 

I live in a pleasant village which is full of pleasant people even if the people opposite me have 'shock horror'  solar panels on the roof and the people next door have a home made 6ft tall 'scarecrow' in the front garden which all the children like to look at.  They are lovely people, even if the man is from 'down south'.  I only know that because we made them welcome when they moved in rather than vetting them.

I'm delighted for you - this is a very similar village.  And you might be surprised to learn that we get on very well with our neighbours too - they also have solar panels, and they cause no problems to anyone. Why would they?

I don't much care where people come from, but they're from Scotland, rather than London - the Londonify comment perhaps expressed a commonly held view about Londoners down here in the south west where it's very difficult for local children to be able to buy, or even rent, properties any more.

This is not about welcoming people or not - it's simply about the thoughtless placing of an ugly air conditioning unit without considering the neighbours, and without applying for the necessary planning permission.  That's not being very neighbourly, is it?

pinkteapot

Thanks for coming back despite the way the thread descended, OP. Let us know what happens because we’re seriously considering aircon for one of our bedrooms as it’s way too hot. 

Also, how noisy is the unit for you? Less worried about visuals (would be on the side of our house, in the gap between two houses, neighbour has no window there) but wouldn’t want to disturb our neighbour with noise. 

Soot2006

pinkteapot said:

Thanks for coming back despite the way the thread descended, OP. Let us know what happens because we’re seriously considering aircon for one of our bedrooms as it’s way too hot. 

Also, how noisy is the unit for you? Less worried about visuals (would be on the side of our house, in the gap between two houses, neighbour has no window there) but wouldn’t want to disturb our neighbour with noise. 

My neighbour's air con (detached side) is loud enough that I bought my own air con unit so I could close my windows when theirs is on

AdrianC

metron said:

One little tip for a couple of you - not all detached houses are the same.  In villages they tend to be very different, not placed neatly in rows, not with windows neatly arranged just at the front and the back - windows can be on any wall.  Houses can be at any angle too.

This is precisely why people are asking for photos of the actual installation in question, in context, so that we can see how egregious it actually is.

The plain fact here is that an aircon unit has been put in place without an application for the necessary planning permission, which would have involved a consultation process with neighbours and a consideration of the siting of the unit.

Nobody is disagreeing with this.

All you need to do is to get in contact with the planning enforcement team at your local council, who may require a retrospective application to be put in.

You - and everybody else - will then have the opportunity to comment on that application.

If the planners view the location as a problem, they may require it to be re-sited before planning can be granted.

RelievedSheff

AdrianC said:

metron said:

One little tip for a couple of you - not all detached houses are the same.  In villages they tend to be very different, not placed neatly in rows, not with windows neatly arranged just at the front and the back - windows can be on any wall.  Houses can be at any angle too.

This is precisely why people are asking for photos of the actual installation in question, in context, so that we can see how egregious it actually is.

The plain fact here is that an aircon unit has been put in place without an application for the necessary planning permission, which would have involved a consultation process with neighbours and a consideration of the siting of the unit.

Nobody is disagreeing with this.

All you need to do is to get in contact with the planning enforcement team at your local council, who may require a retrospective application to be put in.

You - and everybody else - will then have the opportunity to comment on that application.

If the planners view the location as a problem, they may require it to be re-sited before planning can be granted.

And if they don't the OP will have to live with the location of the unit and the neighbours will then know it was them who informed the council and objected to the application.

Lose, lose situation if ever there was one!!

Doc_N

RelievedSheff said:

AdrianC said:

metron said:

One little tip for a couple of you - not all detached houses are the same.  In villages they tend to be very different, not placed neatly in rows, not with windows neatly arranged just at the front and the back - windows can be on any wall.  Houses can be at any angle too.

This is precisely why people are asking for photos of the actual installation in question, in context, so that we can see how egregious it actually is.

The plain fact here is that an aircon unit has been put in place without an application for the necessary planning permission, which would have involved a consultation process with neighbours and a consideration of the siting of the unit.

Nobody is disagreeing with this.

All you need to do is to get in contact with the planning enforcement team at your local council, who may require a retrospective application to be put in.

You - and everybody else - will then have the opportunity to comment on that application.

If the planners view the location as a problem, they may require it to be re-sited before planning can be granted.

And if they don't the OP will have to live with the location of the unit and the neighbours will then know it was them who informed the council and objected to the application.

Lose, lose situation if ever there was one!!

Hardly. Can’t see why the OP shouldn’t just be open about it - talk to neighbours, mention the problem position, ask if can be moved, and if necessary say that he’ll have to seek advice from planners, knowing full well that the planners will take enforcement action.

No big deal - neighbours object to planning applications all the time. Hardly unusual. Better to be open about it than appear sneaky. 

Seems to me the guy with the aircon’s on a hiding to nothing. It’s probably going to cost him far more to go through planning, with an uncertain outcome which might mean no aircon at all and at best will probably mean moving it, than simply shift it a bit.

How far would it need shifting, OP?

lookstraightahead

So op, what are you going to do?

deadendwaterfall

I personally see nothing wrong with the unit whatsoever.