Bancroft

The condition is a matter for planning, not building regs so it will not affect signoff. It is very unlikely to have any repercussions if you ignore it, as long as you submit details of what you intend to do and have those details approved in writing. Ah, interesting nuance and another wonder of our great planing system!

Alan - no-one will see the light and we will use them only occasionally at night but the national park has a specific policy about maintaining dark skies. Somewhat ironic considering we see a massive glow from two neighbouring cities and also our present house has 7 (yes, seven) security lights around it - put in by the previous owners. Mr Punter - the planning approval document does state that the blackout blinds are to be kept closed during night-time hours. That in itself is stupid because these aren't habitable areas and the most likely times we'll be using them is during long, warm summer evenings when there is still light in the sky. But these are hoops we have to jump through.

Part of our house design has two areas - a porch and an outside kitchen - with a roof covering over them as they are incorporated into the house design. To allow light into these areas we have included skylights above each one on our submitted plans. However, we live in a National Park and they have a 'Dark Skies' policy. So, one of the planning requirements is that these skylights should have "...integral blackout blinds or low transmittance glass..." I'm not keen on integral blackout blinds so I'm looking for skylights that have low transmittance glass. I presume this type of glass lets more light in than it allows out (thus dimming any light going upwards from the covered areas at night) but I can't find anyone who provides this sort of glass (at least under this description). They all seem to work the other way and are focused more on reducing heat than stopping light. I suppose I could mount a skylight 'upside down' or ask a supplier to put the glass in back to front but that seems clumsy. Has anyone any experience of low transmittance glass skylights or know of suppliers who have them?

I'd consider the following for the ground floor: - Switch the orientation of the cloakroom 90 degrees so that people coming through the front door can go down a small passageway to the lounge. If the door from the tv room to front door is deleted this will allow more cloakroom space and also make the tv room more usable (more useable wall space). - Delete the wall between the utility and lounge at the point where the kitchen cabinets end. Add a short wall from that point to the other side of the utility. This would increase the lounge area and a discrete door could be put in the corner for access to the utility. Alternatively, shorten the run of kitchen cabinets to put the access to the utility direct from the kitchen.

Yes, this is going to be interesting. We had to have an ecology survey done to demonstrate how we would increase biodiversity by a minimum of 10%. As a result we've had to put in a fairly detailed plan already showing where we're adding native hedges, planting fruit trees and adding wildflower gardens. However, we aim to live in the existing house while we build the new one then demolish the old house on completion to create our new driveway. It's going to be an interesting time when it comes to reclaiming vat as the demolition and landscaping is going to take time (and quite a chunk of money) and I understand there is a time limit for the vat reclaim...

The new house is being built in the garden of the existing house so hopefully that will be taken into account.

Entrance is an existing shared entrance to three existing properties so hopefully ok.

Generally yes. They all seem supportive but have a few minor issues which they've raised formally. Annoyingly the planning process is pretty binary in choice so they had to tick 'object' to raise minor points but then also added in 'we support the build in principle'. Also, from a legal/planning perspective their comments don't carry much weight so hopefully won't be too important. Amusingly, one of our neighbours is a horse stables. They've asked that we should be forced to maintain a 6' fence around the property as '...people playing in the garden might spook the horses in their field'! These are the same horses they take out on the narrow lanes around us...

Site access is going to be our big issue - two tight 90 degree turns to get in. I'm going to approach the neighbour regarding access cross their part of our shared drive area but leaving that until a bit closer to the time when I have a better idea of exactly what's required. As far as site clearance is concerned the area is all laid to lawn at the moment so not sure my wife would be happy with me practicing my trenching skills until absolutely necessary. It's also the dog's playground and he gets muddy enough without me adding to the mess! We have plenty of space on site for materials but - because of the access issues - I'm also considering hiring an industrial unit further up the lane as a staging point. We can get smaller trucks on to site but Artics won't be able to make it but they can get to the industrial place about quarter of a mile down the lane. If they can unload there then I can shuttle stuff back and forth with a trailer or van. Not ideal but probabky going to be necessary.

Trying to do the opposite - access to the site is quite tight so need to keep sweet with them as favours wil undoubtedly be needed...

Planning permission for our new build has been applied for and we're now awaiting the decision which, due to being in a National Park and the planning team being run of their feet, could take a while. We've already done the bat/wildlife/ecology/tree surveys, had a percolation test done, and all the topographic bits are sorted. While we have the basic house design my architect has suggested we leave the detailed structural design phase until we hear back from the planners in case any changes are required. I'm attending shows, doing research on various bits of equipment we're planning to use and putting together some basic Gantt charts to follow the build but I still feel that I'm not maximising activity that will help smooth the build process and speed it up. What else can I be doing in the intervening period to keep things moving forward?

Might ICF panels be a mid-way option for you? COMMERCIAL LINK REMOVED