Stevie77

It doesn't look like our LPA is following any guidelines, including their own, particularly closely. It all seems to come down to the whim of the specific planning officer.

@DevilDamo No because we're proposing to build a bog standard brick box on top of the existing brick box, which has been done ad infinitum in our area. Our Council pre-app web page even discourages people from using that function!

@Papillon Our architect is on it. With a bit of detective work, we've identified his line manager and our architect emailed them earlier. The amount of work and mental space and energy this guy has taken from us and our architect is incredible. We have evidence of allowed planning for our original submission, as well as our compromise that he has rejected. Although I'm not sure what our grounds for appeal could be, we have given so much evidence to show that our original plan and proposed compromise have been approved before by our LPA, and it seems like this guy is not even looking at any of the evidence. It feels like he’s taken a personal stance on this when he is supposed to be objective.

@Temp Yes, I've spoken to someone and have asked for a fee proposal. They have advised that at this stage, their supporting report would not add much as our LPA does not like to change its mind once they have settled on an opinion.

Just introducing myself - I popped on the Planning forum earlier asking for advice on dealing with a difficult planning officer. Nothing special or outrageous was proposed, not a conservation area, and plenty of identical extensions very close by. He has just taken a dislike 🤪. Currently looking for a hitman.

Hello everyone, New here and would appreciate some advice on how to proceed with the planning officer from hell. We've managed to be allocated the greenest, most inexperienced planning officer that probably works at our LPA. This is his first job, he only graduated last summer. Our architect and we are finding it incredibly difficult to deal with him due to his unwillingness to speak to us. This guy is being uncommunicative, does not reply to communication (emails, telephone calls from our architect) and when he does, he does not reply to the points raised. We've submitted an application for a very straightforward application, the same as most properties in surrounding roads and further in our borough, to build on top of our ground floor extension. Our Council's Supplementary Planning Document states a certain limitation on projections at the rear and our proposal exceeds it by c. 80cm BUT there are numerous examples of identical properties in our neighbouring streets (including next-door who received permission to build the same in Oct 2021 🤯) that were granted permission to do exactly the same within the latest iteration of the SPD. It is evident that the way the Council is, and has been, applying its own rules and guidance is highly subjective, inconsistent and well, unfair. Anyway, this guy has made a very blunt suggestion that negatively impacts the internal space and does not provide a satisfactory living environment and functional space, and is therefore not good design practice. We have taken his objections on board and have sent back a few alternative options that comply with the SPD to the letter but in his latest email, he basically says, we either accept his idea or we take it to appeal. Even our architect is stumped - working in the same area, he has never come across a planning officer conducting themselves in such manner, and usually, they are able to have a good relationship with open communication lines and reach compromises. So what do we do? If we go with his suggestion we get something that does not work. If we resubmit we will most likely get this guy again, and he has clearly already made up his mind. If we push our original design he will recommend it for refusal. If we go to appeal it is likely to take months with no guarantee that a decision will go our way. We don't even know yet if there is a basis to appeal based on the LPA applying its own rules inconsistently.