Tom1031 Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Hello I have recently received a letter from my local council to state they have received a complaint about a gate I installed over 8 months ago. I have now been told I will need to submit retrospective planning permission because I live in a conservation area. A planning officer has visited my property and state the style and materials used are not in keeping with the character and appearance of either the host property or the wider conservation area. I am at a loss as to how I can alter the gate, as this is a steel frame with grove timber cladding. Any advice would be most welcomed on what alternative materials I could use to suit a conservation area, I don’t want to loose the steel frame. Thanks Tom Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Looks ok to me We are next door to a listed building Heritage where fine with ours It may be a case of that you simply didn’t ask Can’t be the worst breach they have ever had I would submit retroactive They May ask that you simply darken the wood Ours are just a taller version of your gates 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 This annoys me. Have the planners got nothing better to do? Nothing wrong with that gate. I would be inclined to do nothing and ignore it, Wait and see if they take enforcement action. If they do I would just remove it. No further action needed. No guarantee I would not put it back later. It all depends how much you want to fight over a gate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Likewise, do nothing apart from wander around the area finding similar ‘breaches’ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom1031 Posted January 16, 2021 Author Share Posted January 16, 2021 Thanks for your replies. The complaint breach letter I received suggests removal of the existing front gate and replace with a pair of timber side hung gates. The gate should be of a timber frame/boarded construction and painted black... Not sure how they can dictate what my gate should look like. It would be helpful to know is there an actual library of what a conservation area gate should look like.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Or. Ask for a site meeting, due to COVID they will say no, and then forget about it, hopefully they will and if not the last comms was they were meant to come to site ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 (edited) God, I live in fear of complaints like this. Be very apologetic and say you didn't realise etc etc.They want things in a Conservation area to 'enhance or preserve' the character, so they may want you to have something similar to to other houses in the street. Maybe take photos and then see if you can modify your gate to fit in more, before you submit the application. I've found they are reticent to tell you what they want, but very keen to say 'ohh not like that'. When discussing what's best to do show images to help your case. Edited January 16, 2021 by Jilly 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 5 minutes ago, Tom1031 said: Thanks for your replies. The complaint breach letter I received suggests removal of the existing front gate and replace with a pair of timber side hung gates. The gate should be of a timber frame/boarded construction and painted black... Not sure how they can dictate what my gate should look like. It would be helpful to know is there an actual library of what a conservation area gate should look like.. The told us we had to match our stone cils to the listed farm next door When I pointed out that the farm had been rendered since the 70s leaving no stone showing They just said if the render was removed Ours would need to match We ignored this request 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 This thread is a good reason NOT to live in a conservation area. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 1 minute ago, ProDave said: This thread is a good reason NOT to live in a conservation 2 minutes ago, ProDave said: This thread is a good reason NOT to live in a conservation area. They even told us we mustn’t use Spanish slate as they where not local We called in the slate supplier rep He pointed out that the listed building had a mix of predominantly Welsh slate and last time he looked Lancashire wasn’t in Wales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilDamo Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 (edited) Even in a Conservation Area, you should not require Planning for a gate in that position providing the height does not exceed 1m. Looking at the brick coursing, it only appears to be 900mm high. Are you sure this isn’t more related to demolition within a Conservation Area of which you would only require that form of consent if you have removed a previous gate that exceeded 1m? Or... unless there’s an Article 4 Direction in place? Edited January 16, 2021 by DevilDamo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Can’t remember who but someone on this forum was told the same about local slate so he got several samples and wrote the local quarry name on the back of a Spanish sample, passed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom1031 Posted January 16, 2021 Author Share Posted January 16, 2021 thanks devildamo, unfortunately this is subject to Article 4 Direction. There was an old gate in place I believe prior to purchasing the house, but interestingly there was no planning for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andymb Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 1 hour ago, TonyT said: Likewise, do nothing apart from wander around the area finding similar ‘breaches’ I'd do this - we live in a a national park and the planners have been extremely onerous with respect to the conditions that they impose on us, yet they refuse why to explain why they are willing to ignore other peoples' blatant breaches......my feeling is that they don't have time or money for enforcement action Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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