Temp

My guess is the design of the foundations for the garage didn't take into account the soil type and tree. In some cases >3m deep foundations lined with compressible boards are needed. Sometimes piled foundations. Do you know how deep they went?

So must be even higher at the pump as there must be losses in the pipework?

The tech guidance says.. I would suggest that means the overhang must be included in the area. Pretty sure a car port on the front of your house would need planning permission even if in front of a door.

Materials... For the first one you just send elevation drawings marked up with the materials. Attach a list with pictures and or samples. Mention if they are already used locally. Eg.. "External walls where shown on the elevation drawings to be ABC bricks made by DEF. These have already been used on other properties in the area." "Windows are to be hardwood/uPVC made by GHI model JKL. See brochure/photo of example." "Roof to be tiled with plain clay tiles by MNO." If the bricks aren't already used locally you may need to provide samples. Brick suppliers will sometimes let you have 3 bricks free for this. Landscape... This is usually a site plan marked up showing trees to be retained, trees to be removed (dotted), fences, hedges, driveway finish and any hard surfaces. On ours the main trees were numbered on the plan and a document provided detailing their species and approx size and their intended fate. "New planting to be watered and maintained according to the suppliers recommendations. Any trees that die in the first 3 years to be replaced." We were told we had to plant a hedge and you can find planting specs on the web for that.Eg "Native Hedge whips planted in two staggered rows 50cm spart. Species to include mix of ???. Plastic spirals to provide rabbit protection." Any trees (and plants?) you show on the landscaping plan you can reclaim the VAT for. Otherwise not. Noise/Screening.. Not sure about the noise condition. You will have to read the document they refer to and see what figures and mitigation measures it contains. You might be able to cite sections of their own document back to them. Ideally you should propose what you want to do. If you get stuck you could ask the councils landscape officer for advice but he might suggest a lot of expensive things.

I'd mount it on a pole that you can lean up against different parts of the tree.

How much lower and what do you plan to put on top? For example it's not a good idea to tile over the joint between separate areas of concrete because any differential movement can cause cracking. One option might be to drill into the side of the higher slab, insert rebar and pour concrete to bring the lower up to the higher.

I left a pressure washer get too cold and water froze and broke it. At very least make sure no water in the pump.

Design out the need for precise location.

You might want to have a chat with neighbours. In my area a farmer accepted a deal with a wind farm co and then discovered everyone in the nearby village was opposed. He ended up writing an objection to the planning application. The company reminded him that he had agreed not to object in the contract he had signed and he had to write another letter withdrawing his objection. In the end the Secretary of State over-ruled the Appeal Inspector and said it was too close to conservation areas and Listed Buildings. So he ended up with nothing and lost a lot of friends. In some cases if you agree to the noise limits at your property it can mean no new houses can be built between you and the turbines because the noise the would exceed the guidelines. I think that's unlikely at 2km as other house are likely to be nearer already. Unless you are one of the nearest?

Stick a fan heater out there to keep it just above freezing?

Not normally. More details and photos might help. In some cases (eg House divided into flats) there might be something in the deeds that allows this.

Perhaps look at the planning files for one of these houses that are close. See if there are any reports in there and who wrote them. Councils normally have a map search feature that allows you to find planning applications within x meters of a location you specify.

All I know is that for a mine shaft the minimum zone of influence is normally 20m.

Google says you can get a test for lead in water. I would get one of those then at least you can decide if safe for you, even if you don't want to risk baby. Don't tell the water co the result.

Write to your MP by snail mail. In the first sentence of you letter say something like... "Please could you write to Scottish Water asking why it's taking so long to make a simple connection to solve the problem we have with lead in our water pipe" Then you can explain the problem as per your OP above. Provide the address for SW. Then all your MP has to do is read the first line and get his secretary to dash off a letter.

I wonder if the pump is stalled and somehow current limits so fuse doesn't blow? Repeat the voltage measurements. Measure voltage at the pump. At the output of the switch. Input to the switch. Check the neutral to the pump. With power off measure resistance/ continuity from neutral at the pump to neutral as far away from the pump as your meter leads will reach.

We have two similar flow switches. Have had one fail after 15-16 years. Did you mount it the right way up?

The solution might be a sale into a company you set up (or a relative or spouse or child trust?) before they let it out. There would be stamp duty to pay but that will be less than VAT. The CIL might also be an issue if you claimed the self build exemption. Speak to an accountant that understands these issue.

This might be an easier read.. https://www.macfarlanes.com/what-we-think/in-depth/2017/build-to-rent-vat-issues/

It sounds like you paid a builder to construct it? In that case he must zero rate everything to you. This is my understanding, I'm not an accountant... If you then let it out you could be required to pay the VAT that the builder did not charge you. In summary, there is a difference between "zero rated" and "exempt" for VAT. A new build is zero rated when sold. A lease is exempt. See section 2.3 and 2.3.1.. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buildings-and-construction-vat-notice-708

I'm retired now but when I was project managing electronics projects we had this sort of problem all the time. It was near impossible to find people that thought about other aspects of the job. Its true in a lot of industries, I'm sure garages curse and swear about car designers for not thinking about servicing.

I think you will need to look at cable operated lever flushes to see if you can change the handle to one the right colour.

Cable operated lever flush. Replace lever with your choice? Not sure if compatible with your flush valve though. Perhaps replace the flush valve as well ? https://www.replacementbathroom.co.uk/cable-operated-dual-flush-outlet-valve---lever-operated-22631-p.asp Edit.. Actually the handle on that looks a bit non standard.

+1 "Starter wall ties" fixed to the column?

Some old tools for carding sheeps wool had very coarse spikes like that.