Neighbour granted planning for extension, mysteriously, after being refused.

[workaholic duck]

I find myself in a very sensitive position. Firstly, a little illustration: we live in a very rural area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB). It used to be one farm, split up, land sold and 3 granite properties separated and sold off. We bought one, the old cow barn and dairy, 31 years ago. 

 

About 20 year's ago, our then neighbour wanted to split his house into 2 plots. We tried to object, along with our other neighbour, but it was granted. WITH RESTRICTIONS! As they were replacing the old single storey kitchen with a new 'bungalow' the size was strictly limited. Especially the height, that could not exceed the height of the original structure. Because of this they had to construct 2 roof pitches, with a dip in the middle (where 1 rooflight was permitted as it was out of sight from us neighbours), in order to span the extra width. Now we are 4. 

 

Fast forward 15 years, new neighbours, very nice but well-connected in the area through his family. Another 3-4 years on, they decide the house needs to double in size to accommodate their growing family (it is a 3-4 bedroom bungalow, 3 children; 1 autistic). I had to mention the 'autism' because it is relevant. They put in plans to raise the roof in order to gain a first floor. Hence almost doubling the size. Planning was refused, I understand it was fiercely fought by my neighbour, I was later told. Possibly several times, not sure, as that neighbour quickly sold and moved on 'because of the dispute' (probably not divulged?).  I try to keep myself to myself and not get involved!

 

However, a few months ago, I was chatting with 'extension' neighbour.....children, gardens....idle friendly chat.....when she suddenly, gleefully, announced that they had been granted permission to extend. She went on to confess her father-in-law (the 'connected family' in the area) had been playing golf with the head of planning and was lamenting about the predicament of his son's family, being unable to extend, especially as they have a difficult time with their autistic daughter. Sympathy abounded. Within 1 week planning had been granted. All that swam around my head was cronyism, favouritism.... I was shocked. Ever since I have tried to avoid them. Yes, I am very principled! How can I ever UN-HEAR that confession??

 

Now the scaffolding is up, builders moving in. I was never formally consulted. No letter from the council, nothing from said neighbours that it was happening. Yes, I have written to the planning dept. to complain. To object to a window overlooking my private garden and an ENORMOUS roof to look on to daily. Those 3 points were the main focus in my letter; with a history lesson to remind them of how that bungalow was allowed in the first place. Obviously I couldn't mention the 'gossip'! But I did allude to it when asking how they came to approve the extension......vaguely....!!

 

I'll just add, these properties are very close together as it used to be one farm, as explained earlier. I desperately need help about how to go forward with the information I cannot divulge. Am I too sensitive? Should I just 'move on'? Or is this a real corruption?? 

 

 

 

 

[Ethel Street]

Every local council should have list of all planning applications together with the supporting documents and plans, and the council's decision. Have you checked your council's to see if planning permission has actually been granted? If it hasn't then it may be an unauthorised development that should be reported to the council.

 

Gossip about planning decisons is notoriously unreliable.

[workaholic duck]

Thank you for reading my post! I have emailed the council planning dept. asking them where my letter was? And plans?? Also, for the minutes of the meeting where/when planning was  granted. It was only Friday when all this came to light, so I spoke with the owners, then emailed the council. Obviously, they haven't seen it yet.

 

Both the council and the neighbours have completely ignored my presence up to this point and I had no idea works were starting.....until the scaffolding went up 2 days ago! 

 

I don't think it will be an 'unauthorised' development. But how can I challenge the HEAD OF PLANNING and the family of the owners???? Of course, I cannot go down that route, it's only 'gossip' and easily denied (in fact the wife, when I reminded her of it, yesterday, got very flustered and tried to deny it!). But I know. That's all that matters. Except it plays on my conscience! Lying seems to be an accepted part of government these days. 

 

I am convinced the planning was approved with the stroke of a pen by the head of dept. Trouble is, my home will be harder to sell, possibly devalued and I will be overlooked and have a monstrous roof to see daily. So, it's me who will lose out. Hence why I won't give up without a fight. Even taking it to the ombudsman, eventually.

 

Will keep you posted!

[Manxman in exile]

(PS - just noticed I've cross-posted with you... )

 

You need to do what @Ethel Street has suggested and check the history of this planning application.  (You should be able to do it online).  You need to confirm whether or not this development is in fact authorised.

 

If it isn't you need to get the council to order them to stop immediately.

 

If it is authorised you need to find out how this has happened without you being informed, and I'd try to get it put on hold.  A formal complaint to the council, and if you don't get a satisfactory outcome from following their complaints procedure, escalate the complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.

 

When you say your neighbour told you that her FiL had managed to get the original decision overturned by speaking to the head of planning, do you mean the council employee who heads the planning dept, or do you mean the elected councillor who is the chair of the planning committee?

 

You are not being oversensitive, but bear in mind this might well lead to a poor relationship in future with your neighbours, and might become a dispute that you have to declare when (or if) you sell your property.

 

(Our nextdoor neighbour-but-one replaced an old garden house and garage with a new structure.  Their building contractor was supposed to have organised planning consent (and told our neighbour that they had done so) but they hadn't and the new structures were unauthorised.  A planning official noticed it while making a site visit to another application (nobody had complained or tipped them off) and our neighbours had to apply for retrospective planning permission, but had to make significant changes to the new structures.  Cost them tens of thousands and their original contrcator had gone bust...)

 

 

[Manxman in exile]

2 hours ago, workaholic duck said:

... However, a few months ago, I was chatting with 'extension' neighbour.....children, gardens....idle friendly chat.....when she suddenly, gleefully, announced that they had been granted permission to extend. She went on to confess her father-in-law (the 'connected family' in the area) had been playing golf with the head of planning and was lamenting about the predicament of his son's family, being unable to extend, especially as they have a difficult time with their autistic daughter. Sympathy abounded. Within 1 week planning had been granted. All that swam around my head was cronyism, favouritism.... I was shocked. Ever since I have tried to avoid them. Yes, I am very principled! How can I ever UN-HEAR that confession??...

 

 

42 minutes ago, workaholic duck said:

...Both the council and the neighbours have completely ignored my presence up to this point and I had no idea works were starting.....until the scaffolding went up 2 days ago! ...

 

Sorry - not doubting you, but aren't those two statements inconsistent?  You had the conversation a few months ago but you had no idea works were starting until two days ago?

 

If I'd had that conversation with my neighbour a few months ago I'd have acted on it immediately to find out what the hell was going on.  Why wait until now?

 

 

[Edit:  Yes, as you appreciate and as @Ethel Streethas said, there's an awful lot of hot air, gossip, rumour  and outright lies surrounding planning applications, so you shouldn't place too much reliance on what you hear or on what a friend told a friend of a friend etc.  But sometimes it might be true]

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Manxman in exile

[Ethel Street]

@workaholic duckfiring off generalised letters of complaint isn't going to get you very far.  You need to put in some detailed research through the local council's planning portal.  Everything you need to research is online. You will be able to search for all planing decisons relating to that address, or that general area, going back many years. Not only will it give you full details of what the application was for, including plans, but usually the officers' recommendations and always the council decision.

 

Your objections need to be based on what you find.

 

There is something not right about what has happened, which is that you didn't get any letter from the council notifying you of the planning application. If you have a common boundary with the application site then by law you should have been notified of the application by letter. And a site notice should have been put up. If none of those things have happened it would be a valid grounds for complaint to council head of planning.

 

Who knows whether the story about the applicant's fil and the head of planning playing golf together is true. It's of no help to you at all because the amount of evidence you have for the allegation is precisely Zero. Allegations without evidence are useless.

[workaholic duck]

Manxman in Exile     Oh, sorry, yes it does seem inconsistent! The thing is, during the conversation, it was referred to as a 'loft conversion' and I was assured it wouldn't be changed on the outside, apart from 'filling in the dip between the existing roofs'......I stupidly assumed it would be a flat roof connecting the 2 pitches. She was very vague.....and saying 'oh, we can't afford to do it but when we can, it'll be great.....'

 

Now, of course, I'm told the 2 roofs will come off and a new, big pitched roof in the middle. No-one told me this! So, yes, I was very stupid to dismiss it as not affecting me.

 

New info!!!! I have just seen my neighbour (the original granite Barn, that was separated, by 1 metre, to build the bungalow) who bought it 1 year ago. She had not been told either!! Nor had it been disclosed on the paperwork/deeds when she completed the sale, or that the sellers had any disputes with neighbours!!!   -  That was the reason they sold!

She is alarmed that the new roof pitch will reach her upstairs windows and block her light. She is drafting a letter as we speak. Then will go back to her solicitor......as she said, 'If I'd known I'd never have bought the house'! I mean, this is getting worse by the minute. 

[workaholic duck]

It must have come up in the searches, surely? (for my neighbour's purchase). The previous owners were apparently fighting this for ages before selling (I didn't know until the gossipy conversation about the head of planning and f-i-l on the golf course). 

 

I will definitely do my research now. As it only happened on Friday, without any warning, it has jolted me out of my comfort zone. 

 

In my letter to the planning dept. I did give them the history of how the bungalow came about. Not accusing them of not doing their research, of course! But the more I think about it, the more I am certain this was approved by the stroke of the pen belonging to head planner. Will the searches show who approved the plans, if it didn't go to a meeting?

[Ethel Street]

28 minutes ago, workaholic duck said:

Will the searches show who approved the plans, if it didn't go to a meeting?

 

It should do.  In my council area it shows if the decision was made by officers under delegated authority or if it went to planning committee for councillors to decide.

[workaholic duck]

Just found this, dated 6th May 2021:-

 

We have received representations from the resident of a neighbouring property and we were disappointed to hear that the applicant had not consulted their neighbours prior to submitting their application. Higher Amalwhidden is a small hamlet within the boundary of the AONB. The Council felt that the proposed structure is too large and out of scale and proportion with the surrounding buildings and wider area. The Council believes that the increased height of the building will dominate the skyline and this is of particular concern given that it is in the AONB. We note too that the increased roof height will block light to the bedroom of the neighbouring property and we do not find this acceptable.”

[workaholic duck]

Then this in reply:-

 

It is considered that the development will conserve and enhance natural beauty of the AONB and the proposal thereby accords with policy 23 of The Cornwall Local Plan 2010-2030 , paragraphs 176 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2021, and policy MD9 of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan 2016 - 2021. This is because the raising of the roof height and the loft conversion blends in with other properties in the immediate vicinity which are two storey houses and as such the raising of the roof would not have a significant impact on the property or the wider AONB because the raised roof would blend in with the other two storey properties when viewed from various public vantage points in the AONB. Residential Impact Due to its size, design and location in relation to neighbouring properties it is considered that the proposal would have no significant impact upon the residential amenities of the occupiers of these properties through any overbearing relationship, overshadowing or overlooking. This is because there are no windows facing any immediate neighbours which means there would be no significant increase in overlooking. With regard to overshadowing and overbearing the raising of the roof does have some impact in terms of overshadowing of a neighbours bedroom window, but given that the bedroom has two windows then it is felt that the overshadowing would not be significant enough to warrant refusal as there is still light coming into the bedroom via the other window. The increase in height is only because of the apex of the roof and this does not cause significant overbearing to the nearest property.

 

Lies! My property right next door is single storey. They have a window, facing my property, in the plans! There is overshadowing for my neighbour - so what, she has other windows!!!! Why should she lose light to one just because she has another....??? There are more than one for a reason!

[workaholic duck]

This was my neighbour's response:-

 

Response to objections: 1 letter of objection was received by the Council raising the following issues:- 1. The applicants should not have bought the house if not big enough for the family. 2.When Trevas was created as a dwelling it had a condition on the deeds that said it could only be single storey. 3. Negative impact on AONB. 4. Out of character 5. Overbearing 6. Contravenes Town and Country Planning Order 2015 article 4 - Character of an area of acknowledged importance threatened. 7. Contravenes St Ives NDP Policy OS1 a) b) -in designated landscape surroundings the Importance of maintaining the overall character of the area. 8. Loss of light. The officers views are that 1. This is not a planning issue. 2. This is a civil matter. 3. This has been dealt within earlier in the officer’s report.

 

Wow! Such dismissal! But clause 2 is very significant. I pointed this out too in my history lesson to them!

[workaholic duck]

Oh, and the deeds also say 'no chickens or foul can be kept on the premises.....I remember the deeds now! They have chickens. 

[workaholic duck]

The bit about chickens was added in jest - though true!

[Ethel Street]

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer or a planing expert.

 

It seems that a formal planning application was submitted  There were objections (but not from you because you didn't know about it) and the council considiered these.  The council then decided to give planning permission.

 

There is no third party right of appeal against planning decisions. ie, if permission is refused the applicant can appeal, but if it is granted other people, neighbours etc, cannot appeal against permission being granted.  Unless there is some legal fault when a Judicial Review might be possible (and expensive).

 

You need evidence to challenge the planning decision on the grounds of corruption. You have no evidence. If you do acquire evidence of corruption it is a criminal matter and you need to contact the police.

[workaholic duck]

What about the deeds of the property? It clearly states it must remain single storey.

Can deeds be ignored?

[workaholic duck]

Of course, I knew about the 'corruption' challenge. I knew I couldn't use that. But it cannot be forgotten. 

[Ethel Street]

10 minutes ago, workaholic duck said:

What about the deeds of the property? It clearly states it must remain single storey.

Can deeds be ignored?

 

I assume they are referring to a Covenant.

 

Nothing to do with planning law and consent. Council doesn't consider Covenants, they're not within planning law. Nothing to do with the council.

 

It's a complex area of property law.  You need to consult a solicitor specialising in this area of law. One issue is proving the covenant exits. Another is proving who has the right to enforce it.