joe90

I wanted ex train line stone but there is no longer a railway near Bude ?

Not wishing to be negative but I took our 3rd application to appeal and a senior councillor supported us. At the site visit a councillor asked me what the objections were and I explained about one neighbour who objected to everything localy and had no valid reason for objection and the planning officers objection on dubious grounds ( in my opinion). on the arrival of the other members he shuffled off and during negotiations among themselves I heard him saying how our proposal was fit for the site, and others seemed to agree with him. At the council hearing however my wife had her 3minutes, my planning consultant had her 3minutes, the neighbour had his three minutes where he told numerous un truths and when I tried to point out his "errors" was told I had no right of reply. We were voted against and lost our appeal completely, not one councillor, including the one that supported us initially would look me in the eye. ( I have heard on the grapevine since that the council were "got at" and told to vote against us) The good news-: I took our appeal to the Secretary of State and she stated our application was very fit for purpose and overturned the council, she also stated in quite blunt terms that the planning office were not abiding by their own rules, got fundamental information wrong and could not over rule the ecologist in her recommendation regarding bats on site. I still may take our case to the local press " is the Torridge district council planning department fit for purpose?". and they all lived happily ever after ?

I have done both my last vans in 1/2inch ply with carpet underlay underneath to quiet the van down, last one had old carpet tiles as well for non slip finish (posh as well).

Yes thanks, and me, we plan to have owl boxes in our meadow.

All my bills-staged payments are paid in arrears, I.e. After the work is done so if it ain't done right I don't pay and argue ( not that I have had to do this with my builder at all).

Right chaps, I think a conversation with building control is in order, I will present a plan based on (BS) figures!!! And see what he says, wish me luck.

Iain, I am a convert to believing in gut instinct . So sorry you have had all this grief but I firmly believe there are good eggs out there, my builder proves that.

I'm with you on picture books Nick, do you have one I could borrow on UVC installations ? .

Can anyone give me their opinion on this please:- "Also I need a soak away for the rain water ( the building inspector accepted when I built the garage that if I dug a soak away it would never drain away so allowed me to pipe the rain water via a French drain to ditch) so can I use this same seasonal soak away for rain water or will it back flow into the treatment plant? (Note, the land is very flat and I have very little fall, if any, from the treatment plant to the ditch?.) and, how do I work out how much area / stone I need to provide? Thanks

I just came across this:- "New discharges are not allowed to a ditch or a surface water that does not contain flowing water throughout the whole year." and:- "A partial drainage field (also known as a seasonal soakaway) is a system for discharging to water which allows effluent to drain into the ground when levels in the watercourse are low, and into the watercourse when groundwater levels are high. If you’re using a partial drainage field for a new discharge, you must install it within 10 metres of the edge of the watercourse and you must only use it with a small sewage treatment plant, not a septic tank." my next question (yawn) is how is this seasonal soak away constructed exactly and what dimensions should I use, is there a guide somewhere as I can't find one. also I need a soak away for the rain water ( the building inspector accepted when I built the garage that if I dug a soak away it would never drain away so allowed me to pipe the rain water via a French drain to ditch) so can I use this same seasonal soak away for rain water or will it back flow into the treatment plant?

Peter, thanks for this, just to be sure it's for DHW at mains pressure driven by an ASHP which is driving UFH as well ( which I believe needs a buffer tank ( size ?). Gosh I really need to get my head around this.

Nor me?, just know I need an UVC for two people, must pull my finger out and make these decisions

Yes,I think that's the way to go Jeremy, I AM discharging to a water course ( via a ditch and drain?)

Thanks Jeremy, you discharged to a water course but I plan to discharge to a ditch that is only wet 9 or 10 months a year and that is the problem, the ditch runs to drains in the road and after 30 meters or so empties to a water course ( a blue line on ordinance survey maps) the forms only seem to deal with discharge to a water course or drainage field (which our ground conditions won't allow?). Perhaps I should say discharge to a water course as that's where it eventually ends up ?.?

I have been wading through the envoironment agency rules on discharge from a new package treatment plant that I need to instal soon ( I went for the vortex in the end) and I am confused!!!. My building inspector says discharging to a ditch that is wet for most of the year is ok if a partial soak away is also involved, I also plan a reed bed at the junction with the ditch as part of the partial soak away which my building inspector agrees with. However I can find no definitive rules on this approach. I understand that if I abide by the standing rules I don't need to register but my inspector believes I do need to register????. Just to say we have a high water table, solid yellow clay and little top soil?. Any help gratefully received.

Just found this thread and about to start my UFH so found it interesting, due to illness and bad planning on my part we are having a liquid screed and just read...".Remeber that liquid screed is a real pita to get anything ( like tiles ) to stick to"...... ( from Nick) . What can I do to aid sticking tiles and or block flooring to my liquid screed please.

How about a two wheeled barrow, my dad used to have a problem balancing the barrow when he got older?

Well I am very lucky, my builder is Devon born and bred and he is very up to speed on modern practises and very interested in alternative methods, hence my post on having a good builder. Iain, so sorry to hear of your bad luck with builders.

I didn't apply for pp for my static, the council contacted me to ask if I was living in it, and I am not ( honest!) I told them it was for builders facilities, toilet, mess hall etc, and I still lived in Bristol so they were satisfied and I heard no more.

Thanks for your comments guys, our neighbour has finally moved away (hooray) , the caravan is still on site Nick, your most welcome anytime. The colour of the windows is a sore point, we thought we had picked "National trust green" ( olive green) it wasn't till the windows were delivered already sprayed that we realised what RAL 1000 actually looked like, don't ever pick a colour from an iPad colour chart ?. The good news is we love the colour and have had lots of comments about how nice they look and the colour compliments the bricks ( phew). Yes it's larger than we thought, the planners didn't like dormers but the appeal judge thought it was in keeping hence we won our planning appeal. Just the inside to do now ?.

I don't do blogs but I thought I would share the look of my build now the scaffold is down, once again I could not be more pleased with the build and my builders. P S shame I can't get many building materials in the car !!!

Yes Peter the reducers are a pain and 10mil to tap fittings would be great. I am only using 10mil on hot water runs to reduce lag.

Crafter, Shame you are soooo far away, just heard the next village is being re-surfaced and they expect to have 350tons to dispose of down here in deepest Devon ?Being greedy I am wondering if I need any more, shame to turn it down.

Just to say I have just had 150 tons of plannings delivered ( tarmac removed to facilitate re tarmacing) and its great, sets very solid and very cheap at £4 a ton delivered. You just have to be lucky and find a contractor locally that's re surfacing some roads.

Maybe a silly question but is all PB pipe the same?. I am about to order all the 10, 15 and 22 mm water pipe for my first fix plumbing, on recommendation from the welsh plumbing expert I am going with hep20 and notice that their pipe is more expensive than others ( toolstation). So is all PB pipe equal or should I stick to one manufacturer?