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Hi from Devon


Clareandharry

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Hello all - I'm Clare. This forum looks like a very interesting place, so I'm very glad to be here. I'm looking forward to working through all the helpful material and adding some of my own, as well as a long list of questions...

I started a blog a while ago - its a new build, back garden plot, in a village just outside Exeter. Its taken some time to get to this point....

https://clareandharryshomebuild.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/the-waiting-game-25-years-for-outline-planning-consent/

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Your project looks really interesting from the blog, and congratulations on your tenacity in chasing Planning Permission.  I can see some of us being interested in learning from your experience in finessing the community development boundary. When I applied for my PP, some of the Planning Committee didn't actually know where the boundary was.

 

We similarly relied on the presumption to develop when our plot - a little different as it was for a housing estate - was taken out of the Local Plan at the last minute, and we won on appeal.

 

There are some people building in your general area on Buildhub, so please do ask any questions or share any insights.

 

Ferdinand

 

 

Edited by Ferdinand
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Welcome and well done!

Crikey how many years has Clyst House been empty now? Incredible really considering its status in the good old days of insurance.

Having been to most of the Aviva sites in recent years it was certainly in one of the best locations!

Edited by Barney12
typo
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Hi all - yes  TheMitchells, we have full planning. Thank you for your positive comments about the layout. I've properly upset my parish council colleagues by my comments though! Very awkward. But East Devon has a reputation for looking positively on contemporary design thank goodness.

 

Barney12 Clyst House has been empty about 3 years (currently being used for police training exercises) and the entire site was vacated at the end of Sept 2016. Its properly spooky and Winslade Manor is in real danger . They want to create 150-ish dwellings there by demolishing Brook and Clyst Houses. Unfortunately this will be right next to us but nothing we can do. Clyst House is such a splendid building and less than 30 years old. Tragic that nobody wants it for offices or a school or care home - its just the wrong shape and size for everything..

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6 hours ago, Clareandharry said:

[...]

I've properly upset my parish council colleagues by my comments though! Very awkward. But East Devon has a reputation for looking positively on contemporary design thank goodness.

[...]

 

Welcome.

PCs; their responses and public musings in relation to planning issues are commonly criticised. Almost by definition parochial, and very often, just plain wrong. Why do I say that? Have a look at this  Oh, and before I forget this.... Having read your blog, it looks like we could have plagiarised one another's content. We'd been waiting since 1985 for PP.

 

Yer pushin' on an open door here maam. You are most welcome.

Ian

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Hello again, Clare.

 

I spent an hour or so this morning having a read of your blog and Planning Docs, and you seem to have a Planning Consultant and architect who did their job just about right, especially in not giving the Council technical detail about the house that Planners do not need.

 

I think some of us may have some useful comments if you want to start a thread ... or do you want to chat here?

 

For example I think you may have overheating issues with solar gain in some seasons, depending on the spec of your house .. e.g. The experience of some here is that lots of south facing glazing with no shading may cause trouble if you are significantly better insulated than building regs basic spec.

 

I have a few detailed  comments which I will hold off until after a couple of busy days.

 

Ferdinand

Edited by Ferdinand
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@Ferdinand - yes the solar gain is worrying me. I agree we may have to consider shading (and have been wondering if we'd need to talk to planners about it). 

The layout is evolving a little, too, as we do the construction drawings.  A pocket door off the hall instead of hinged. Sacrificing half the utiility room space to put in a second downstairs loo if granny moves in and is exclusive user of loo No 1 (the extra space it could initially be a walk in larder). 

The most unsettling issue is that our architect has revealed that in order to satisfy the roof insulation etc where the terrace over the family room is, there would have to be a step UP of about a foot between the master bedroom and the terrace. Never mentioned this before, and I'm pretty (very) unhappy about it. Looking for ways to make that go away at the moment (can be done but will cost lots). 

Too much going on and far too many decisions to make. We need to get on with the garage rebuild, but also need enough info to put in building regs for the entire site before we start anything. 

I'll start a thread about this building if that's OK, get it off the intro page.  Hopefully it'll be interesting to a few people. 

 

Thankyou for that tip @Nickfromwales

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2 hours ago, recoveringacademic said:

 

Welcome.

PCs; their responses and public musings in relation to planning issues are commonly criticised. Almost by definition parochial, and very often, just plain wrong. Why do I say that? Have a look at this  Oh, and before I forget this.... Having read your blog, it looks like we could have plagiarised one another's content. We'd been waiting since 1985 for PP.

 

Yer pushin' on an open door here maam. You are most welcome.

Ian

That was all so familiar. Pretty much everything you mention applies in my case -  causing  a lot of personal stress because I was not allowed to speak for myself (and they wouldn't talk to anyone anyway). In retrospect the advantages of resigning as a councillor over the small gains I made in understanding local planning would have been far greater. Truly, any more hassle and I am ready to sell up and push off - last week they started emailing each other about my blog which they truly hate, and queried whether I had permission to have the mobile home here (ie suggesting that I had broken the law!) I send an email to the empathetic Parish Clerk saying I was now beginning to feel bullied, this was circulated. No-one - NO-ONE - not even the chairman, has responded.

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1 hour ago, Clareandharry said:

[...] Truly, any more hassle and I am ready to sell up and push off - [...]

 

Don't. Self-building requires a certain amount of sod-it-I-will-not-be-beaten. You have got under their  skin and they can't deal with it. That's their problem, not yours. Let them own it. All of us have problems wherever we are. Push off and yours will follow - they'll just be a different set of issues.

This place is full of gutsy people: have a look at these for inspiration

  • @joe90 read his stuff and you get a feel for dogged persistence
  • @JSHarris, read his blog here and on mayfly.eu, especially the bit about his fresh water
  • @jamiehamy, sheer guts and determination
  • @ProDave, his trip hasn't been easy
  • Waste a few hours here and you'll have some lead put back in your pencil

Coupled with the odd bit of 'treating yourself' (to a Mars Bar, or a walk, or meal out with the other half). Oh, and watch a Peter Kay repeat

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