Planning objection help

jonnydeppiwish!

Section62 said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

lincroft1710 said:

Without any trees or old barns, what proof is there that there are/were bats on the site?

I think I agree - it’s an orchard, so the trees will be low hung for easy picking, and maintained well. Bats don’t normally live in deciduous trees either but I’m not certain about bat areas where they fly.

I'd expect the issue to be the bats using the long strip of land as a corridor, and possibly also for feeding.  I don't expect the bats to be living in the trees, but they would attract insect life the bats would be able to feed on, as they fly up and down.

Bats have had a hard time in recent decades, they need protecting, and the law is fairly strict in doing so.

No like I said, I agree - bars need protecting but I’m not sure on the ecological impact of this one area that was someone’s garden.

Bluebell1000

lincroft1710 said:

Without any trees or old barns, what proof is there that there are/were bats on the site?

We have CCTV and have seen them on the camera. Other neighbours also have video footage. However as other posters said, when all the neighbours say there are bats and nesting birds, they have to make a proper survey.

This is a wildlife corridor and we all want to preserve the area for wildlife. We love seeing all the squirrels as well, though unfortunately they are grey not red. I know there's no trees now, but it could be replanted...

The houses will overlook the neighbours substantially and reduce light, which we are going to use as a material consideration. 

Bluebell1000

Thank you all for your comments so far!

Section62

Bluebell1000 said:

Thank you all for your comments so far!

Five other points you and your neighbours could look into -

1) How does the driveway enter the highway - it isn't clear from the plan which bits of the public road are verge and which are footway, but there is no provision of a visibility splay, so if the strip closest to the property boundary is footway then pedestrians could be at risk of being hit by vehicles emerging from the driveway. Is there any provision for cyclists?

2) Are there parking restrictions on the public road? I could see the owner of the house nearest to the road preferring to park on the road rather than walking to the garage at the rear - if they do this it could obstruct visibility for vehicles emerging from the driveway.  If the road is already heavily parked then the access should be protected by double yellow lines.

3) How wide is the access road - the measurement is just clipped off at the edge of the screenshot.  Is it enough for two cars to pass each other without one needing to reverse back out onto the road?  Is it 'shared space' (i.e. pedestrians expected to walk in the 'road'), or is there a separate footway (not shown)?  If it is shared space, is the proposed surfacing adequate to convey that to drivers (i.e. not black tarmac)?

4) What arrangements will be made for refuse/recycling collection?  Will the lorry go down the drive, or will residents have to bring their bins up to the road?  If the latter, where will the bins be placed, will they block the footway?

5) The pair of houses part-way up the driveway have virtually no space behind them.  Will the gardens either side be fenced off to make them sufficiently safe and private for use by these residents as their only outdoor space?  If the design doesn't envisage these being fenced off, the planning consent should be conditioned to prevent fences being put up at a later date.  What kind of buildings are immediately behind these houses, does it matter they are overlooked so much?

daveyjp

Section62 said:

Bluebell1000 said:

Thank you all for your comments so far!

Five other points you and your neighbours could look into -

1) How does the driveway enter the highway - it isn't clear from the plan which bits of the public road are verge and which are footway, but there is no provision of a visibility splay, so if the strip closest to the property boundary is footway then pedestrians could be at risk of being hit by vehicles emerging from the driveway. Is there any provision for cyclists?

2) Are there parking restrictions on the public road? I could see the owner of the house nearest to the road preferring to park on the road rather than walking to the garage at the rear - if they do this it could obstruct visibility for vehicles emerging from the driveway.  If the road is already heavily parked then the access should be protected by double yellow lines.

3) How wide is the access road - the measurement is just clipped off at the edge of the screenshot.  Is it enough for two cars to pass each other without one needing to reverse back out onto the road?  Is it 'shared space' (i.e. pedestrians expected to walk in the 'road'), or is there a separate footway (not shown)?  If it is shared space, is the proposed surfacing adequate to convey that to drivers (i.e. not black tarmac)?

4) What arrangements will be made for refuse/recycling collection?  Will the lorry go down the drive, or will residents have to bring their bins up to the road?  If the latter, where will the bins be placed, will they block the footway?

5) The pair of houses part-way up the driveway have virtually no space behind them.  Will the gardens either side be fenced off to make them sufficiently safe and private for use by these residents as their only outdoor space?  If the design doesn't envisage these being fenced off, the planning consent should be conditioned to prevent fences being put up at a later date.  What kind of buildings are immediately behind these houses, does it matter they are overlooked so much?

All the above are generally valid points of objection, but the starting point is the scale of the development.

5 properties is a very small development, most of which are approved with very little scrutiny, particularly highways and footpaths which are the bulk of the above points of objection.

A small development generally won't need roads built to adoptable standards.  A private driveway will be more than adequate for the number of anticipated vehicle movements.

Nunthewiser

Perhaps you could contact the Bat Conservation Trust for advice? I can't post a link but they have a website.

Bluebell1000

Nunthewiser said:

Perhaps you could contact the Bat Conservation Trust for advice? I can't post a link but they have a website.

We are in touch with the local bat conservation group who have offered to comment on a report when they have one, they have said the objection letters so far re bats have covered everything at this stage.

Bluebell1000

Section62 said:

Bluebell1000 said:

Thank you all for your comments so far!

Five other points you and your neighbours could look into -

1) How does the driveway enter the highway - it isn't clear from the plan which bits of the public road are verge and which are footway, but there is no provision of a visibility splay, so if the strip closest to the property boundary is footway then pedestrians could be at risk of being hit by vehicles emerging from the driveway. Is there any provision for cyclists?

2) Are there parking restrictions on the public road? I could see the owner of the house nearest to the road preferring to park on the road rather than walking to the garage at the rear - if they do this it could obstruct visibility for vehicles emerging from the driveway.  If the road is already heavily parked then the access should be protected by double yellow lines.

3) How wide is the access road - the measurement is just clipped off at the edge of the screenshot.  Is it enough for two cars to pass each other without one needing to reverse back out onto the road?  Is it 'shared space' (i.e. pedestrians expected to walk in the 'road'), or is there a separate footway (not shown)?  If it is shared space, is the proposed surfacing adequate to convey that to drivers (i.e. not black tarmac)?

4) What arrangements will be made for refuse/recycling collection?  Will the lorry go down the drive, or will residents have to bring their bins up to the road?  If the latter, where will the bins be placed, will they block the footway?

5) The pair of houses part-way up the driveway have virtually no space behind them.  Will the gardens either side be fenced off to make them sufficiently safe and private for use by these residents as their only outdoor space?  If the design doesn't envisage these being fenced off, the planning consent should be conditioned to prevent fences being put up at a later date.  What kind of buildings are immediately behind these houses, does it matter they are overlooked so much?

The houses and bungalows around the site are all objecting to the plans due being overlooked.

The access road is planned at 4.5m wide reducing to 3.7m - I presume that's what you mean by visibility splay at the entrance?

Section62

daveyjp said:

All the above are generally valid points of objection, but the starting point is the scale of the development.

5 properties is a very small development, most of which are approved with very little scrutiny, particularly highways and footpaths which are the bulk of the above points of objection.

A small development generally won't need roads built to adoptable standards.  A private driveway will be more than adequate for the number of anticipated vehicle movements.

It depends on the authority.  The policy at the last authority I worked for was for highway officers to scrutinise all applications for two or more properties, and all where a new access was being formed on the highway.

My point to the OP is that these are things that could be material considerations, and in case the relevant council officers aren't looking at them, the residents can be proactive and bring them to the attention of both the case officer and the relevant council officers.

In essence, sometimes the residents have to do the job the council is supposed to be doing.

I wouldn't suggest there was a need for a road to be built to adoptable standards, quite the reverse. But the requirement to consider the safety of pedestrians and visibility splays at the highway junction are no less important considerations with a shared driveway than for an adopted road.

Section62

Bluebell1000 said:

The access road is planned at 4.5m wide reducing to 3.7m - I presume that's what you mean by visibility splay at the entrance?

No, a visibility splay is where the physical boundary features are set back at an angle so drivers emerging from the driveway/road can see and be seen by other road users (especially pedestrians and cyclists if the driveway crosses a footway/cycleway).

The existing property to the left of the access road (left, when facing the public road) has a 90 degree corner to it and the access road is tight against the boundary on this side.  The driver's view to the left will potentially be obscured by the existing property's fence/wall/hedge until the front of the vehicle has emerged beyond that boundary line by (say) 1.5 metres.

If there is a footway/cycleway adjacent to the existing property's front boundary then pedestrians/cyclists potentially wouldn't be able to see the vehicle (and vice versa) until the vehicle is already onto the footway/cycleway.

A visibility splay would effectively cut the 90 degree corner back to improve visibility - very crudely the orange area on this edited extract of the plan.  Alternatively, if the area immediately adjacent to the front boundary of the existing property is grass verge, this could be sufficient to provide an adequate sightline - illustrated very crudely by the blue line - and the developers wouldn't need to do anything else. (unless (e.g.) the highway authority have plans to widen/move the footway to make provision for a cycle route)