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I was wondering if there's someone here that is familiar dealing with planning issues and local planning officers.
I live close to a street which, on one side, is full of bungalows. These were all built around the same time in the late 80s as the planning conditions at the time dictated they had to be single story buildings.
To cut a long story short, one of the bungalows was sold and the new owners submitted controversial plans to demolish the bungalow and build a new 3 storey house.
As you can imagine, the plans weren't welcome by local residents, especially those direct neighbours on all three sides. There were 20+ local residents who submitted objections to the application. The initial application was rejected by planning officers, however there were clearly discussions behind the scenes because planning officers recommended bringing the the development closer to the main street.
A new application was submitted, based on the planning officer recommendations, and it was approved by the council because it seemed to tick all their boxes. All the same local residents objected as there weren't really any material changes other than bringing the development closer to the street. One other reason the local residents have been unhappy is that the new owner agreed some changes with the local residents to minimise the impact, but he submitted something completely different to planning.
So the new planning application was granted on the basis of the drawings submitted and subject to further approval for the materials (bricks/tiles) on a discharge requirement. All seems quite straightforward, despite the unhappy local residents.
Now in the plans submitted for the condition discharge, the drawings have changed substantially. The applicants have increased the number of windows by some 40% and changed the roof structure, without explanation or apparent consent. This has only just been picked up local residents because the structure does not look like what was originally approved. The roofers have told some of the neighbours that the roof wasn't built to plans, it's actually 1.5m higher than the plans because they have essentially created 2 bedrooms in the loft area with en-suites, despite the fact that planning application states 'attic area (storage space)'. The attic was always one of the controversies because it substantially overlooks other properties and they have installed 8 dormer windows. The applicant told local residents repeatedly that there would be no bedrooms in the attic, but clearly that's one of his many lies.
A local neighbour has already now spoken to planning officers, who were quite dismissive about coming out as they claimed they didn't see any problems. So the question I've got is, what's the best way usually to proceed with this? I'm keen to let them finish the development and then submit a complaint to the council. I would also like to know, can someone put in significantly more windows than they originally submitted in the planning application? The roof has to be an issue as the whole building now resembles some kind of office building with the way it's been constructed.
I live close to a street which, on one side, is full of bungalows. These were all built around the same time in the late 80s as the planning conditions at the time dictated they had to be single story buildings.
To cut a long story short, one of the bungalows was sold and the new owners submitted controversial plans to demolish the bungalow and build a new 3 storey house.
As you can imagine, the plans weren't welcome by local residents, especially those direct neighbours on all three sides. There were 20+ local residents who submitted objections to the application. The initial application was rejected by planning officers, however there were clearly discussions behind the scenes because planning officers recommended bringing the the development closer to the main street.
A new application was submitted, based on the planning officer recommendations, and it was approved by the council because it seemed to tick all their boxes. All the same local residents objected as there weren't really any material changes other than bringing the development closer to the street. One other reason the local residents have been unhappy is that the new owner agreed some changes with the local residents to minimise the impact, but he submitted something completely different to planning.
So the new planning application was granted on the basis of the drawings submitted and subject to further approval for the materials (bricks/tiles) on a discharge requirement. All seems quite straightforward, despite the unhappy local residents.
Now in the plans submitted for the condition discharge, the drawings have changed substantially. The applicants have increased the number of windows by some 40% and changed the roof structure, without explanation or apparent consent. This has only just been picked up local residents because the structure does not look like what was originally approved. The roofers have told some of the neighbours that the roof wasn't built to plans, it's actually 1.5m higher than the plans because they have essentially created 2 bedrooms in the loft area with en-suites, despite the fact that planning application states 'attic area (storage space)'. The attic was always one of the controversies because it substantially overlooks other properties and they have installed 8 dormer windows. The applicant told local residents repeatedly that there would be no bedrooms in the attic, but clearly that's one of his many lies.
A local neighbour has already now spoken to planning officers, who were quite dismissive about coming out as they claimed they didn't see any problems. So the question I've got is, what's the best way usually to proceed with this? I'm keen to let them finish the development and then submit a complaint to the council. I would also like to know, can someone put in significantly more windows than they originally submitted in the planning application? The roof has to be an issue as the whole building now resembles some kind of office building with the way it's been constructed.
