mjc55

Success!!!!!! I wrote a stiff letter to the planning officer's manager yesterday as I know he had a meeting with her planned for tomorrow. Got a phone call from the planning consultant this afternoon to say that they are passing the plans. So excited! I have to admit to being a bit downcast the last few days, this really has cheered us up. We can now press ahead with getting the utilities onto site as I know that this can take a little time. 2025 is going to be a very busy year!

This is very moot. I am sure it is not always the case but I would be wary of the valuation.

Yes, we plan to do 6 rows for each pour on ours!

Have a look here - this is the ecobrick site. I will be using them for our build, be careful however - this build method does raise some hackles on here! 🫣

you can also get covers for the 110mm drains, would be a pain if they got blocked.

This is something we have considered, I suppose that there is more of a chance of some rogue councillor taking issues with our application and making trouble. Parish council is very much in favour so that would help. Will discuss this with planning consultant on Monday to get her view.

Arrggghhhhhhhh! Just heard back from planning consultant. Planning officer is very embarrassed - that really helps doesn't it. Said he MAY get round to it in January, he hasn't even looked at the application yet. This is after extending the deadline from 24th October until yesterday (29th November) He is meeting with his manager on Wednesday so we have asked that it is brought up then. Trouble is, an appeal will almost certainly take ages (6 months at least I think) so how does that help? We can try and escalate with West Dorset and currently discussing with planning consultant whether to escalate before Wednesday or after. It is just so frustrating, we bought the land exactly a year ago, had issues (resolved) with the boundary to next door so took ages to get to the point of application to find that as the boundary had changed that our PD to reserved matters application was invalid and so had to put in new planning app. I'm so glad I got out of the game when I retired, I never had these difficulties when submitting planning applications to Wiltshire Council. Things seem to have really changed since then. The system is broken, trouble is - how does it get fixed?

Are you going to tell us more about these new technologies?

I am sure that I knew this earlier in the year, it's age I guess 🙃 Yes, we are in West Dorset (just). Sorry to add to the confusion - it's happening far too much lately.

I am not sure why you say this. We have a plot in North Dorset, awaiting PP and as I understand it there certainly is CIL.

I don't remember that - good job I retired 😬

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Just to add that proximity to boundary looks less than 1 or 2m, this will have an issue regarding timber cladding so close to boundary. There would be requirement for fire related protection.

I would probably say that As regards planning 1. If replacing cladding with same then no PP otherwise PP required 2. No PP 3. No PP 4. PP required 5. No PP 6. No PP As regards BC As greater than 30 sq. m. then would require BR approval. Others will probably be along to agree/disagree!

Were you liable for CIL, were you exempt due to self-build? If so be careful of the 3 year rule in disposing of the land! AIUI you will have to pay any liable CIL if you sell within 3 years.

Couple of thoughts Turning circle for car? Can't tell from the drawings what the location is like but would you actually be able to turn a car around on the drive? A lot of angles on the room shapes, outside walls. Added complexity therefore added cost. The roof looks very complex because of the shape of the house.

I.m not 100% sure that the lack of buildings means that a bat survey should not be required! On our site, where there never have been any buildings, a biodiversity report (including the possibility of bat roosts in trees and flight paths) was required.

As I have mentioned before, I left my previous profession (in IT) and did an Architectural Technology degree at UWE about 15 years ago. In the first year our course contained both AT students and Architecture students after that we split into different cohorts. That Architecture courses were quite technical at first but by the time the Part 2 and 3 Architecture students were studying the content was anything but practical and some of the content of the degree shows was completely out there. This isn't to say of course that some of the architecture students were not practical, many were but a significant number were artists rather than architects. My pet name for them was starchitects!

This was the OPP that was on the land when we bought it. https://planning.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/plandisp.aspx?recno=378025

The plot we bought last year had OPP on it. This can be a relatively simple process - in our case the application was for a "Outline application for proposed dwelling" with simply a site plan (with no house shown) and a short statement. It was passed with all matters reserved meaning that all plans and statements would have to be submitted via a reserved matters application. So in essence it can be relatively straightforward to apply, it does not necessarily require a planning professional to do this. If you are simply looking to see if the principle of development is there then this is a way forward.

Will do some more cost research - probably not for a week or two - and relate my findings here. Would assume that cost comes down a lot if bought in bulk.

Sounds interesting, what is the cost impact of replacing standard insulation with Geocell? We are planning to build a small "pod" on site to live in whilst building main house (will become office/store) and want to use the pod as a bit of a test bed for build methodology on main house (approx 6.5 x 4).

Which reminds me.... Many years ago in our second house I laid a parquet floor. Forward a few weeks after finishing it and we had a 1st birthday party for our eldest ( who is now 39!) and my sister in law arrived in stilettos. The next day we couldn't work out at first why there was lots and lots of small indentations in the floor. 😮

Off topic I know, but I am increasingly irritated by the use of chatgpt in more and more places! Nothing personal Mr buttercup by the way. I know this has been done to death in many places but I really don't understand why it is relied upon so much. I know I am old fashioned in my view but surely I am not alone in thinking that it is not healthy to rely on technology for your rational thinking!

I think it should be OK to remove, ground floor so exit via windows in bedrooms in case of fire. Others will be along to agree/disagree.