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We have won our planning appeal at last


joe90

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Dear all,  as some of you will know I have been fighting for planning permission down in Devon and Torridge District Planning department have fought me all the way, even slapping a demolition order on a garage I was building under permitted development ( I appealed that as well) . Well I did my own appeal ( not difficult) and of four points the council original refused planning permission for they capitulated on three of them after I presented my evidence ( they had this information all along) . I have just received an Email from the Secretary of State inspector to say she supports my appeal on all grounds with no condition other than those already agreed with the council. She also mentioned the councils objections that I proved we're not valid supporting my evidence. Torridge council has such a bad reputation for being a PITA. You cannot go into a builders merchant without hearing builders complaining about the council.

 

After the build I intend taking my story to the local press, " is Torridge Distrct Council planning fit for purpose, I think not" just to show they are wasting council tax on fighting planning appeals where planning should've been approved. I have also heard from my architect that the government are going to take Torridge into " special measures ".

 

So, hip hip hooray, now the serious questions on this forum will start to appear.✌️

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I knew you'd win but it's great to see it official.  :P

 

What utter pillocks the people at your council are.  What possible advantage would they have bought their constituents even if they'd won?  The money would be better spent on something productive, clearly.

 

Anyway, this is great news.  I was about to have a wee G&T, so I'll drink to kicking against the pricks!

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5 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Worth the wait so crack on ..!!

 

It is a 3 storey castle in lime green cladding with "Up Yours" in 3ft high letters on the roof you're building isn't it ....? 

Don't tempt me ,!!!. No, quite the opposite, local red brick and lime pointing with local slate roof, painted wooden windows. A Devon cottage ?

 

I am tempted with the " up yours" sign as our neighbour has instigated most of the objections and has even put a manakin with a high viz vest in his garden looking out our site to say " we are looking at what your doing" he has accused us of not abiding by planning laws but this appeal has stopped him in his tracks.

Edited by joe90
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23 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Don't tempt me ,!!!. No, quite the opposite, local red brick with local slate roof, painted wooden windows. A Devon cottage ?

 

It will never catch on....

 

And you're building a proper two storeys ..?

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Yes, a two story cottage with small skeilings in the bedrooms to keep the overall height as low as possible. The council wanted room in roof with velux,s. Next door is room in roof and is taller than the cottage we are building. The council said our build would be dominant but the inspector repeated my point that it's smaller than next door and also is a hip roof ( unlike next door) so its mass is reduced by clever design. 

 

People power✌️

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41 minutes ago, Declan52 said:

Well done for keeping the fight going. If the council thinks you have got one over them will they not try to nail you over something else during the build.

 

Definitely possible although:

- planning isn't really involved from this point on (and they're likely to be the ones holding any grudge)

- they may be less inclined to take on someone who's clearly willing to fight his corner

 

The danger is possibly that there's an aggrieved councillor behind this somehow, and they may not be happy with having lost.  

 

All speculation of course!

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As long as I stick to the plans, planning won't have anything to gripe about. The building inspector is a great bloke, when I first met him he informed me he was nothing to do with planning ( as everyone down here hates planners). 

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57 minutes ago, bassanclan said:

There needs to be some sort of penalty for councils to stop them refusing "acceptable" planning applications which are overturned at appeal because of the amount of time/money/stress for the applicant is far greater than any penalty the council face.

Very good point and, as you say, Joe has undoubtedly suffered penalties in time, money and stress and should be compensated for what seems to have been a 'frivolous' refusal. It should also be said though that developers who make similarly frivolous appeals should also be penalised for the costs incurred by the council's involved.

 

Well done Joe and good luck with the build.

 

 

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Well girls and boys here are a few pics of the site and work so far ( we could start before the appeal result as we had planning approval for a bungalow that had the same downstairs so the appeal allows us to build an upstairs.

 

Pic 1 shows how high the water table is. Pic 2 shows my finished garage, pic 3 shows the footprint.

 

more to follow:-

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