Planning Nightmare
Discussion
Equus said:
dmsims said:
I wonder why Colin hasn't ventured back to this thread ?
One thing I would genuinely be interested in knowing is why is unwilling to resign, in the face of the finding against him?What's in it for him, desperately clinging on to a position on the Planning Committee, when there are others who could take his place and do a better job with a clean slate?
Equus said:
dmsims said:
I wonder why Colin hasn't ventured back to this thread ?
One thing I would genuinely be interested in knowing is why is unwilling to resign, in the face of the finding against him?What's in it for him, desperately clinging on to a position on the Planning Committee, when there are others who could take his place and do a better job with a clean slate?
Also if Equus or any of us here have an application in his area, he should declare an interest. I bet he won’t do that either.
It’s not hard to work out who Equus is from his various posts, I am not that difficult to identify either. I also reckon I can work out a couple of others from this and various planning threads.
Edited by blueg33 on Saturday 18th January 20:13
blueg33 said:
Also if Equus or any of us here have an application in his area, he should declare an interest.
He's actually quite close to me, so I've decided to attend their Planning Committee meetings in future (they're usually good entertainment, regardless).Needless to say, if I spot any deviation from planning law or council committee procedure, from any of their members, I'll be onto it. Given some of the guff he's come out with on here, in regard to Planning matters, I don't expect it will take me long.
Their next meeting is Monday night, as it happens.
Equus said:
One thing I would genuinely be interested in knowing is why is unwilling to resign, in the face of the finding against him?
What's in it for him, desperately clinging on to a position on the Planning Committee, when there are others who could take his place and do a better job with a clean slate?
I think many would have a view on that! What's in it for him, desperately clinging on to a position on the Planning Committee, when there are others who could take his place and do a better job with a clean slate?
I will declare that I did buy the chair of the parish council planning committee a beer in the pub over christmas so I'm not whiter than white!
Equus said:
...I've decided to attend their Planning Committee meetings in future (they're usually good entertainment, regardless).
Needless to say, if I spot any deviation from planning law or council committee procedure, from any of their members, I'll be onto it.
Uncomfortably overzealous.Needless to say, if I spot any deviation from planning law or council committee procedure, from any of their members, I'll be onto it.
3M said:
A decade ago I moved into a village my partner and I love. Now with a growing family we're looking to extend. In doing so we had a number of drawings completed and we chose the one which would have the least impact on our neighbours - a two storey 2.5m extension in the middle of our plot (low pitch) - 4m from our neighbours on each side. The extension would extend just 60cm beyond the end of our neighbours single-storey extension (as I said 4m away). We provided neighbours with the plans and then later discussed them ahead of submission - we had their full blessing.
Having submitted the plans I was approached in the garden by one neighbour who said they had changed their minds. Light through a side window of their extension which peaks over the top of our 1.8m fence would be blocked - they wanted us not to extend (the actual comment was put the extension on the other neighbours side...). I spoke to the architect and I reassured the neighbour we'd find a solution - we almost stopped planning there and then, instead choosing to make changes after a verdict (in any direction).
Since then I've been dragged into a village meeting where strips were literally torn off me - wild shaking of paper by people who had no right to be there or even lived in the village. My partner has been subjected to verbal abuse outside the local school. We've currently more objections than anything else in the district...everything referencing our poor neighbours, the fact they're 5th generation villagers, lived there for 40 years and that our house shouldn't increase in size quoting any and every planning law people can find. One villager has told us we'll never get any plans through and some (everyone of these are retired people with nothing else to do) have actively gone around the village asking for more objections.
Despite the above I've continued to reassure and have made efforts to sit down with objectors asking them what they wish to see instead. However, to say we feel unwelcome here is an understatement. No one cares we've kids in a building without modern electrics, plumbing, insulation or reliable boiler - the fact we have asbestos almost everywhere - that we've just 15 square meters of living space for a family of four.
I'd be really interested to hear what the PH collective would do in our situation. We've done everything we can to be considerate but had no consideration back. I'm not an a
hole but suspect I've been too nice. Should I treat them with the same contempt? Should I not care and just build the extension we need (not the one we went to planning with)?
I've extended four houses and on the first three came up against all manner of initial emotional responses from my neighbours who, after the event, really liked what I'd done to improve the respective streets and many of whom became friends.Having submitted the plans I was approached in the garden by one neighbour who said they had changed their minds. Light through a side window of their extension which peaks over the top of our 1.8m fence would be blocked - they wanted us not to extend (the actual comment was put the extension on the other neighbours side...). I spoke to the architect and I reassured the neighbour we'd find a solution - we almost stopped planning there and then, instead choosing to make changes after a verdict (in any direction).
Since then I've been dragged into a village meeting where strips were literally torn off me - wild shaking of paper by people who had no right to be there or even lived in the village. My partner has been subjected to verbal abuse outside the local school. We've currently more objections than anything else in the district...everything referencing our poor neighbours, the fact they're 5th generation villagers, lived there for 40 years and that our house shouldn't increase in size quoting any and every planning law people can find. One villager has told us we'll never get any plans through and some (everyone of these are retired people with nothing else to do) have actively gone around the village asking for more objections.
Despite the above I've continued to reassure and have made efforts to sit down with objectors asking them what they wish to see instead. However, to say we feel unwelcome here is an understatement. No one cares we've kids in a building without modern electrics, plumbing, insulation or reliable boiler - the fact we have asbestos almost everywhere - that we've just 15 square meters of living space for a family of four.
I'd be really interested to hear what the PH collective would do in our situation. We've done everything we can to be considerate but had no consideration back. I'm not an a
hole but suspect I've been too nice. Should I treat them with the same contempt? Should I not care and just build the extension we need (not the one we went to planning with)?This last one was a complete nightmare. For various different reasons three of my immediate neighbours became totally unhinged at multiple points of the project and 18 months in I'm still dealing with some of the fallout.
Before I get the usually "greedy developer" jibes I've rescued another terribly dilapidated but lovely old London house, binned all the plastic window, restored all the external period features, cleaned and re-pointed all the brickwork, replaced most of the roof, extended carefully using reclaimed bricks and landscaped and planted the garden whilst replacing everyone's fencing. It really was the biggest s
tter in the street by some margin before I put it back to how it should be. But you'd think I was a child murdered the way some of them have gone on. Everyone else in the street thinks it looks great and that I've done them a favour.
You just need to get your head down and get on with it. If people aren't willing to be won over, there's very little point in trying.
WindyCommon said:
Uncomfortably overzealous.
Possibly; but as I said, I actually enjoy Planning Committees as a form of public entertainment.... I count them as a good night out.They're much like a Punch and Judy show, but with more ignorant bigotry and fewer strings of sausages.
I'll take me knitting...
Edited by Equus on Sunday 19th January 09:36
princeperch said:
I guess the risk equus runs if he does start attending the meetings (for whatever reason) is that he ends up getting labelled (and treated) as a loon by the authorities, instead of being regarded as someone who legitimately raised a point of concern.
You're not allowed to say anything from the public gallery of a Planning Committee meeting, so the committee won't even know who I am, or why I'm there.Equus said:
blueg33 said:
Also if Equus or any of us here have an application in his area, he should declare an interest.
He's actually quite close to me, so I've decided to attend their Planning Committee meetings in future (they're usually good entertainment, regardless).Needless to say, if I spot any deviation from planning law or council committee procedure, from any of their members, I'll be onto it. Given some of the guff he's come out with on here, in regard to Planning matters, I don't expect it will take me long.
Their next meeting is Monday night, as it happens.
In my earlier mini-rant about my neighbours I didn't mention any of the planning nightmares I had this time round. Like I said, I'd aleady extended 3 houses and it was all pretty straightforward but this time the planners were also incredibly hard to deal with for reasons I don't understand to this day (although, to be fair, they're way under-staffed compared to how they were a few years ago).
But I always do things by the book and am astonished but what the planners DO let through. People ripping out front gardens and marbling the drive. People marbling the front of their house (!). People slapping pale oak Travlodge doors on 30's or Victorian houses. Painting them black, adding blue downlights. i could go on and on. How the f
k is any of that in any way acceptable??Their lasted contradictory decision has been to agree that the oldset pub in the area (and the only decent one) housed in a magnificent original Metroland building right opposite the tube is to be demolished.
Words fail me.
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