ToughButterCup

Ignore it. A retired roofer visited me while I was fitting our gutters. "Wadja fussin' fer lad? 'T water'll flow away wiout that bollerks"

Yes. Establish what the objection is. Decide whether it is a Material Objection or not. What are Material Objections? There's plenty on this site to help Then, go to your LPA website. Look for similar Objections in similar cases. Look at the extent to which the LPA took any notice of the Objection, and if they did, what was the consequence. Nearly local to you, our LPA roundly ignores Parish Councils, and has gone so far as to say

Ours (Siberian spruce) contracted (is still contracting?) a little. The original gap was 8mm: it is now 10 or more. 'Butting Up' I take to be laying the planks flush, side by side. If I'm right and your wood also shrinks then, over time, I think a small gap will open up. Thats the rationale for board on board cladding. In relation to @Russell griffiths post above, here's a YT link to a superb Kiwi craftsman whose work I have come to admire: sometimes he uses shadow gaps in his ply - but inside. He 'makes' his own shadows like this ..... He calls it negative detail

Our membrane is part of our air-tightness strategy. Yes it was expensive (£1000 for a 10 by 10 by 5 'block' of a house) Yes, wasps chewed through the membrane - egg cup size hole: it was easy to see because of the design gaps in the cladding It was a 10 minute repair. I'd like to have the time to do a cost comparison - labour and materials.....

Evan Davies has just said that PV panels don't work as well at this temperature. Is that true ? Mine have been going full-on since this morning 9kWh so far (3.84 kWp, south facing)

I had loads' a similar questions about mine - our ICF company retained an SE who was just brilliant. Answered everything by phone, and saved us a couple of grand at least. Give your ICF company a ring and ask to speak to their SE...

================================================================================ Here is just one of many possible answers to your question. WITHOUT PREJUDICE ABSTRACTED FROM https://www.google.com/search?q=method+statement+for+excavation+of+trench&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB968GB968&oq=method+statement+excavation&aqs=chrome.6.69i57j0i512j0i22i30l8.13215j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Method Statement Contractor: The name and contact details of the contractor. Project name and site address: Insert relevant details. Site manager: Name, telephone number and email address. The site investigation will establish the engineering properties of the ground on which the structure will be founded and provide details on bearing capacity. This information will be communicated to the groundworks sub-contractor. • If the site investigation identifies any contamination of the ground from previous industrial uses, details of this will be given to the groundworks sub-contractor. • Provide utility services drawings showing the location of any buried services. • Where work has to be undertaken close by or beneath overhead lines, enquires will be made with the line operator to establish whether the line can be made dead or diverted. Where lines remain live ensure that plant is selected or modified so that it cannot reach the lines. Ground works sub-contractor to comply with guidance note GS 6 ‘Avoidance of danger from overhead power lines’. Prior to any work taking place on site the client / contractor shall: - • Use cable detection tools to accurately identify service locations on the ground and mark same. • Ensure that vehicle routes are carefully planned so that plant does not have to approach close to the edge of the excavation. These routes need to be clearly marked i.e. baulks of timber and/or fencing. • Consider site access from the public road onto and around the site before vehicles arrive on site, taking into account the site traffic management plan, the designated work area for delivery vehicles and the storage area for materials. Clearly identify and communicate this information to the groundworks sub-contractor. • Make welfare facilities available to the groundworks sub-contractor. Work activity Pre-start checks: The pre-start checks must cover the following areas: - availability of plant and equipment to be used; ground conditions; proximity hazards and welfare facilities. Ensure the excavation area has been checked for overhead and underground services prior to the commencement of work. Description of the contract: Excavation of the service trench with mini digger and by hand where appropriate (information taken from working drawings). Backfill will be by [...] ============================================================================= A search for the terms method statement for excavation of trench shows the following results (about 70,00 or so.) I am not an expert. The post above should not be seen as guidance or an example of good practice.

Could you link to the Decision Notice so we can have a look, please?

He used complete blocks of our text: word for word the same. What adds insult to injury - we were required to get a licence from Natural England , and to construct a TAF all the way round the property (that low green sheeted fence )and leave the site alone for a year (cost = £6000 ) ..... whereas the mandated decision for him was I'm so annoyed I looked it up again .... A RAMS (Reasonable Attenuation Method Statement) was accepted by the LPA : meaning in practice - that all he had to do was erect a notice pointing out that GCNs are around and if you find one, pop it back in the grass - cost of the notice - £10 max. Cost to us: north of £6000. We are 25 meters away from his property You're right @SteamyTea, I can get cross - but occasionally, its justifiable. Looking on the bright side, we now have a small pond full of GCNs (and some large Smooth Newts) , and grandchildren who will be able to watch their life-cycle in peace and quiet. Waiting for a wet night - U/V torches and excited kids at the ready. Recent showers brought the newts out to bask on the rocks round the pool edge

This is going to sound bitter: because it is. Done carefully, and with a dash of luck, this post could save you over £500. Find another Preliminary Desktop Study online in your LPA Planning Application website The closer to your property the study was done the better Download it Edit it to show your personal details Tweek it a bit here and there. Falsify the Author's signature Submit the 'report' to the LPA as your own. Cost? Zero. I advise you NOT to do what I suggest above. Because it's unethical. It's not unlawful or illegal. It might be fraudulent. Why the somewhat uncharacteristic suggestion? It's what my neighbour did 5 years ago. References provided on request. The bigger picture is somehow fitting. 6 years later, he's still appealing his second Enforcement Order having spent a few thousand pounds on pointless Appeals - and still does not have Planning Permission.

Reading with care and writing well both take time. I am still puzzled by those who - with many thousands of pounds at stake - allow themselves to ; write letters of objection about matters immaterial to the application draft DA statements which are little more than copies of others' applications think that emotion plays a part in writing a Planning Application disrespect the reader by writing illiterate sentences waffle imagine that they also own what they can see from the property they actually own I too read with a delicious shiver the discussions between Central and Local Conservative planning officials. Martin Goodall writes beautifully about it. Shame he retired recently.

The minute you ( @Maria ) start doing the contractor's work, you lose the protection that DOMESTIC CLIENTS are afforded by CDM 2015. My ( I have a feeling -our- ) collective inexpert advice is to get your contractor to make the operational arrangements. Here is our extended discussion on CDM 2015 Please read it.

Because it costs Councillors nothing - personally - to refuse.

Exactly right.

Interesting. If possible, could you link us to a (random) online example please?

Welcome. Well, not just a chippy: you've probably forgotten more about the process of house building than most of us have learned.

I agree wholeheartedly. That statement depends on readers' careful engagement with the words in the document. And almost nobody does . At best, most skim. This thread has taught me that -- if the applicant is keen to engage a wider readership -- it might be useful to provide a one page summary of the key aspects of the application at the front of the document. I have long thought that in order to submit a formal objection, objectors should be required to submit their objections on a standardised form - one which explains clearly the difference between Material and Non-material Objections, and gives examples of each. It strikes me as quite difficult for the 'Average Joe' commenter to do anything other than say what's in his (her) heart about a Planning Application, and that any DA statement (even one as well drafted as the OPs) is too long. A bit of support in terms of drafting a well-founded Material Objection is long overdue. Yes, some LPAs do have such guidance on their website. But thats not enough I think.

Tony, you have saved a lot of our members a lot of money. Thank you very much indeed.

Could I nudge that sentence to say ... there's a fine difference .... between the two "Sweetheart, I'm not having an argument with you, I'm just making one argument, there are many others that could be made ... more tea?

Please could the Mods consider pinning this post / thread Ian I ask because the Design Access Statement is a model of Brevity Focused argument Well-structured content Good use of images Evidence-based discussion Clearly produced maps and an excellent written style

BCOs are one of the last groups of professionals to have evaded state-level inspection. Doctors, lawyers, dentists, NHS, universities, teachers .... why not BCOs?

PM sent @pocster.....

Am I right in thinking that the work-in-progress is relevant here? Would they have prevented access without the work? If they would have prevented access even if the work was not in progress, then you have a case. As it stands, they have a point in terms of safety.

You've got evidence of plans and drawings (above) and made appropriate consultations. Nobody - but nobody is going to say to you - OK thats fine you go ahead - without all sorts of pointless office-based shenanigans, because they'll just require a survey based on - you guessed it - digging out. Check your builder's Insurance . If thats OK, - JustBloodyDoIt . Consider being onsite yourself or (with appropriate permission) videoing it