Ferdinand

Absolutely agree on that. You could take the position that there are things you have to do between contract and start, with a 3rd party requiring you to do them etc. (I have edited my previous post to be a little more subtle. I am having a brusque afternoon, so I'll pipe down for a bit.)

Is that actually just the last 2 years? Is it not more likely to have been a mistake? The was a case on the series "Meet the Planners" (in 2013/4?) where someone got a Housing Estate on their outlying smallholding through by meeting the sustainability criteria by building an 800m footpath down the side of a country lane. That suggests that the means of safe journey rather than just distance was being considered even then. They were doing detailed Sustainability Rankings on ranking our local potential development sites back in about 2012-3 for our Local Plan using service accessibility criteria. It may even have been in the SHLAA in one form. It was a bad mistake on that evaluation that dropped our site out of the Housing Allocation and forced us to submit a Planning App. before the Local Plan was approved. Ferdinand

With the husk off. I would say that without a good reason (perhaps he has one - ask him?) it is possible that you are being played and *may* (or may not) be being set up for his ultimatum of some kind. Either way, you are going to need to demonstrate who is boss or you have lost the authority. But demonstrating that authority could be investigating what the causes are first and brokering an acceptable solution for both of you. If you think you are being played, I see three options: 1 - Come over the heavy uncle now. 2 - Do not, and be ready and prepared to walk away on the day if he plays silly buggers. 3 - Communicate via the architect if he is still involved. 4 - Try some diplomacy. I do not think 3 would resolve it - feels a bit sheep-like and running to daddy, and not sufficiently in your control at the micro level. Could you offer to meet him on site first to discuss any concerns preventing him signing in advance as one way ahead? You perhaps also need to consider the ease of creating a plan B for the profile of your escalation. What will it cost in money, time, risk if you lose him? But that is all just my opinion, of course, and I am commenting without responsibility or consequences! Ferdinand

It means they have been cocking it up for the previous X years. (I know one in the Peak Park where the LPA lost on Appeal when they had expected to win following a dismissive refusal at LPA level, and the developer ended up with a PP for new dwellings and no Planning Obligations at all.)

Having checked the numbers, Oxford seems to raise a surprisingly small amount It would probably go on things that you would not notice immediately. In my very local area, mine are currently hitting developments for 'improvements to the A38 corridor', in addition to the usual capital improvements for schools / parks / community facilities, which is the main industrial development zone along each side of the main road. Having checked Oxford, their Section 106 contributions run at about 0.5 - 1.5 million per year for an area with 160k people. At 1.4 million it would be around £20 saved on the Council Tax, plus perhaps 2-3 times as much value again in providing newbuild subsidised housing, and whatever they raise via CiL. I can see that being £100 a year off the Council Tax per household. In my area the Council do about 4-8kk per developer house on Section 106 on most developments (=1-2 million), and perhaps 60 affordables in toto some of which will be on top, in a district of 50k households. That again may be £100 or more per year off Council Tax for each household. If someone is increasing the value of their chunk of land from say 100k for 10 acres to 3000k for 10 acres purely by the Council, I think that perhaps 25-30% of the uplift going to capital investment for facilities for the houses they are allowing to be built is quite fair and reasonable. I agree that new people should cover revenue costs. That seems a fair division to me, given that the policy us to attempt to capture part of the planning gain. If the Council were taking say 50-75% that would be pushing it. Ferdinand

Around here in my experience Planning Gain taxes equate to perhaps 5-10% of the GDV of a development and 30%-150% of the sale price of the land under development. Policy for the last several decades has been that expenditure needed to provide community facilities and improvements for the inhabitants of a new development should largely be covered by the developers of that development (which is ultimately paid for by the seller of the land and the purchasers of the houses). To me that seems more or less reasonable. What happens in Scotland with (say) a 500 home development? Who pays for the new roads, the £750k (say) needed to upgrade the local primary school intake by 3 classes, the Doctors' Surgeries and so on, and how is it extracted? Ferdinand

You get what you negotiate. There was a chap on here a few weeks ago with a slightly far fetched sounding self-build project on the Green Belt outside Bristol where he required 8 people to give him the money to do the ground works and site prep before the start. That had a 250k S106 due on the commencement of works. That would be another 30k each for the members of the putative self- build group before they even start building. It is normal for phased payments to be agreed on larger developments matched to the revenue profile. F

Incidentally, here is a huge blog post about a Durisol build near Edinburgh. The blgo is called Edinkist, and is structured as as a single post with abotu 30 updates. https://edinkist.wordpress.com/diary-of-the-build/ Also technicals: https://edinkist.wordpress.com/technical-details/

I like those playful columns - a bit like Coventry Cathedral. Are the ones on your SiL's house necessary at all, or are they structural, or marginal? I think I would enjoy leaving them unclad or ideally missing, and make the drain-chain into a faux column / water feature using a thin or thick rod of metal such as stainless steel or aluminium-bronze. If restrained but not anchored at the bottom, the "column" would move when people leaned on it. Credit.

Is there a chance that the former EPC assessor might send me a copy of their file? I know they anyone else is not allowed to use it, so it is not as if it will take away work or anything . My chalet-bungalow is currently an EPC 74, with 17% of light assessed as low energy fittings (previous owner iriots!) and no solar. It says that low energy bulbs take me up to 77 (*), and 2.5kWp solar would take that up to 83. So if I have 100% of low-energy light fittings, and 10kWp solar - which I have now - what could my number be? We also have a brand new high efficiency boiler. If the solar benefits are linear to EPC, then that makes it another 18, which gets me to 101. Likely? [Update: Playing a bit with Stroma for the Little Brown Bungalow the PV impact is *huge*. Very tempted to get one done on my house to lock in the number before they nobble the algorithm again to promote the next big thing.] Ferdinand (*) We have *oodles* (=about 75-80) of GU10 recessed and mounted spotlights, curse their little cotton socks.

Has any micro wind turbine ever been proven not to be a red herring except on a boat or offgrid setting? While solar is proven, it may still be worth registering as FiT etc. I would go solar on that. Ferdinand

I have considered these for my leanto, but am going for a long overhang instead. I think that gutters to match your windows or copper or aluminium (and I would start with metal gutter only across the front and something subtle down the sides to guide the water such as a simple bead on the roof as a verge) plus appropriate chains would be excellent. I would be tempted by a chain with something tube-ish shaped as a decoration around the chain to keep splash off the oak. It would look superb if it met the need. Ferdinand

I would make the whole thing Incredibly simple. My posh one died and I use one of these or similar. It may be the sort of thing from The Range or Pound Shop. I normally keep a couple in stock for tenants, and if it is good enough for my Ts then it is OK for me. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chrome-Plated-Plug-Handle-Waste/dp/B009YTQ88G If you want a flippy one flip-top is the phrase: There are such plugs around including a few for baths: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=flip+top+%2Bbath+waste&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiryq2jnMbWAhUkOsAKHQk3DYgQ_AUIESgB&biw=1024&bih=672 F

8< snip

Thanks that is a series of alternatives. So 220m of 6mm draw rope should be a little under £20 in your hand.

That's Aldi. @Onoff wants his welder and a profit.

Cheers.

@Tom In addition to policies etc, you also need to go into your Local Council office and ask to see the entire Planning File for that site. It is very variable what is online, so you must look at the Planning File. As a second best, put in an FOI request for the entire file, which will probably come as a PDF. But that may have missed out bits by mistake - what you want is to be alone in a room with the file for an hour or two. Ferdinand

OK. Been through the stuff. The cordless tools seem OK though may not last years and years and buying all 3 means I have 3x batteries. The rope is not as cheap as can be done elsewhere. Will be returned. The packs of grinder disks seem fine. The saw horses will be OK, but are not any cheaper than similar at other places. I have yet to test the vaccuum cleaner, but about £30 is impressively less than a Charles. The (£25) steps are very impressive, not hugely high but solid, and have treads which are 30cm x 20cm so suitable for people with Clown Feet like me. Ferdinand

Does anyone have a good source for buying rope to put in ducts for future cables etc? Normally I think this would be the blue polyprolylene stuff in 6mm-10mm I bought a couple of 20m length x 10mm blue polyprop and 10mm braid rolls from Aldi this w/e at £3.99 each, and thought I would check prices = 20p/m. It is now going back. The best source I have found is Timko Ropes of Tarlporley, Cheshire, who do 6mm, 8mm and 10mm blue polyprop draw rope for around 5p -> 12p per metre in lengths of 220m, 500m and 2km. Plus postage of £7->£11 if you cannot visit. Surprised at the light weight - 500m of 6mm only weighs 7kg. So for example 500m of 6mm blue draw rope delivered (not NI, Channel Is, or the Highlands and Islands - sorry) inc VAT is around £38. 220m delivered inc VAT would be around £18. Any other recommended sources? Ferdinand

As it happens I have to buy fire alarms today. Might try a different branch :-).

Good work. Is old granite as straightforward to cut? Thinking granite from EBay I would probably have avoided cutting the holes by using a sit on top sink and range cooker. I am lazy that way.

They have 5m hoses and accessories under separate cover.

Bound to be less random than B&Q. I can predict the phases of the moon. Listen for the Husky down the road howling the the night before .

I am working on a Screwfix Trade Account, which give discounts of up to 35% (they said) but it is not clear what selection of products attract a discount. They were saying that if a qualified electrician or Gas Safe engineer opens one on my behalf during a project I can continue to use it afterwards. Ferdinand