A couple of questions re planning permission

melb

hi there I would be interested in anyone's experience and/or knowledge on the following.  The large back garden opposite us has a planning application in for two semis to which I and a number of others have objected due to the overbearing nature of the 3 storeys amongst other things.

Planning permission is still under consideration according to the planning portal and the planning department themselves who I called a couple of days ago.  The garden area has been cleared and now about a 6 foot depth of earth has been dug out and removed from site.  It is to all intents and purposes a building site with measurements being taken etc.

Would this be normal to start preparing to such an extent if planning is not guaranteed?  Also one of the applicants has been going to the homes of objectors (not me by the way) and asking them why they have objected and making them feel uncomfortable.  is this acceptbale? I personally don't think it is.

Also should a 'change of use' application have been submitted as it has gone from a back garden to a building plot.

Would be grateful for any views.

Doozergirl

It isn't a change of use. If they want to dig in the garden, they can.  They haven't built anything. 

Maybe they shouldn't be approaching people asking why they've objected from a sensitivity point of view, but there's no law that stops people from asking awkward questions.  

Wait for due process to take place, that's it. 

melb

Well 4 loads of cement have now been dropped in so I think we can assume that building has commenced!
Commenting is still open on the planning portal so am i right to assume permission has not yet been granted otherwise comments would no longer be accepted. 

Apodemus

I'd ring the planners and let them know that you "think" work has commenced.  If you can get the number for the planner whose name is listed as the case officer on the planning portal, so much the better.

melb

Thank you I have emailed the planner twice but will give him time to reply. 

FaceHead

A little like digging in the garden, they can chuck concrete in the ground (or, say, pave over the garden) without planning permission. It doesn't sound like they have built anything that requires planning yet. 

They do seem rather sure they'll get permission, or have a contingency plan for building something else. 

FreeBear

FaceHead said: A little like digging in the garden, they can chuck concrete in the ground (or, say, pave over the garden) without planning permission. It doesn't sound like they have built anything that requires planning yet.

If the concrete is being put down on the front garden, anything over 5m² will need planning permission.

Section62

FaceHead said:

A little like digging in the garden, they can chuck concrete in the ground (or, say, pave over the garden) without planning permission. It doesn't sound like they have built anything that requires planning yet. 

They do seem rather sure they'll get permission, or have a contingency plan for building something else. 

This isn't strictly true, and it is important because it is often the root of people having planning problems.

The starting point in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is that planning permission is required for all 'development'. (Section 57)

The effect of the GPDO (along with some other cases) is that planning permission is automatically granted where specific conditions are met.  The things that people colloquially say "don't need planning permission" in fact do need planning permission, but have already been given it without needing an application to be made.

Therefore you can't just start digging holes and chucking concrete in the ground - unless the thing you are 'developing' either meets the GPDO conditions, or is otherwise granted consent.

So if you've dug a 6' hole in the garden and start to fill it with concrete, you would need to be able to explain how this 'development' falls within the GPDO.... on the face of what the OP describes, it doesn't.

Gavin83

melb said:

hi there I would be interested in anyone's experience and/or knowledge on the following.  The large back garden opposite us has a planning application in for two semis to which I and a number of others have objected due to the overbearing nature of the 3 storeys amongst other things.

Planning permission is still under consideration according to the planning portal and the planning department themselves who I called a couple of days ago.  The garden area has been cleared and now about a 6 foot depth of earth has been dug out and removed from site.  It is to all intents and purposes a building site with measurements being taken etc.

Would this be normal to start preparing to such an extent if planning is not guaranteed?  Also one of the applicants has been going to the homes of objectors (not me by the way) and asking them why they have objected and making them feel uncomfortable.  is this acceptbale? I personally don't think it is.

Also should a 'change of use' application have been submitted as it has gone from a back garden to a building plot.

Would be grateful for any views.

I think it's prudent to approach your neighbours before you submit your planning application. Whether it's a problem after really depends on they way they approach the neighbours. If it's a case of asking them what their objections are and what they can do to resolve them then I can't really see why people would object to this and to me it would seem beneficial for the neighbours to communicate. If the approach is more threatening then no, that clearly isn't acceptable.

phoebe1989seb

We had a neighbour who did something similar at our last house - he put in a planning application to turn his detached early Victorian house into two semis, which - being a street of only medium-large, detached properties - majority of the neighbours objected to (there were many more relevant objections too and his proposals were turned down).

Having had that rejected by the council, he amended the plans to enlarge and considerably reconfigure the existing single family residence, but before this was passed by the planners he went ahead and began work (himself...and he wasn't a builder/had no previous experience 🙄).

When parts of the building - furthest from our own early Victorian detached, fortunately - began to collapse because he'd gone at it gung-ho without taking into account the support required, he came crying to DH for assistance!

Moreover, again before any planning decisions were reached, he chopped down all the mature trees in the large rear garden (we were within a conservation area with an article 4), seriously annoying owners of the three houses which backed onto his. When his property was targeted by *graffiti artists* he went to confront those (elderly) neighbours, intimidating and threateningly accusing them of *having it in for him* 😮

Eventually he got his second set of plans passed, but according to the buyer of our old house he's still at it five years since work - without planning - began!

Otoh, with regards to the delivery of building materials, we had blocks, insulation and other materials delivered here over a year ago and we've not even put in an application to build our extension yet 😉

We have also begun clearing the area where our yet-to-be-designed extension will go.....

melb

the applicant came to show us the plans way back in march and gave us a copy.  I said i would wait until I had seen the plans on the portal until i could make a judgement as it was the height that would concern me.  They didn't give the true information in regard to that.  They bought the house of which this is the large back garden a year ago and showed their disregard for neighbours when they carried out the refurb before selling it.  They reroofed it and extended over the roof of the adjoining semi and had to come back and rectify.  They actually knocked through the wall into the next door's bathroom while one of the owners was in it.  they didn't bother with a chute while reroofing and doing other external works and just chucked down any debris causing damage to neighbouring homes/gardens.  They burnt all sorts in a metal bin and the fumes were noxious.
They have blocked us in our driveway for 2 days with plant machinery which I accept is necessary but also a vehicle of one of the operators of the digger who has no need to park in such a way in a short culdesac.  I asked him if he would mind moving it 30 metres away where there is plenty of room and he said he would but didn't bother.
They have now put in the foundations, erected the usual safety signs for a building site and physcally removed the yellow site notice from the lamp-post.
I phoned the planner and will call again in the morning.  Totally unsavoury people all round!