Planning permission Letter of objection - challenge inaccuracies?

[Digger1]

A neighbour has written a letter of objection against our proposed development. 

 

The letter they have written contains some inaccurate information relating to our build.  Is it advisable to write a letter to the planning department outlining these inaccuracies or leave it to the planner to make their own decision?  Any response we write will be made public.

 

Any advice appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Mr Punter]

It depends whether what they have written inaccurately has any planning merit.

[Digger1]

They are saying the development goes over their boundary, which it doesnt.  Obviously.

[joe90]

I would not rely on planners knowing stuff, I would definitely respond saying that the land is yours and you can prove it. The planners I fought knew diddly squat about what we owned and made wrong assumptions more than once ?. It took an appeal to put them back in their box ?

[James Newport]

Our neighbour claimed the boundary between us was in dispute, which meant that planning couldn't proceed because they didn't know if this was the case or not. Once I sent the planning people copies of the deeds demonstrating there were no boundary issues planning passed it. 

 

I actually think the reason they passed it without changes was because they realised the neighbour was just being obstructive.

[saveasteading]

Glad it worked out for you. 

 

Surprisingly you do not have to own land to get planning permission on it.

Neither do you need planning permission to build something.

 

However you could expect to be in court later, then removing it all and compensating.

[ProDave]

7 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Surprisingly you do not have to own land to get planning permission on it.

But you go have to notify the land owner that you have submitted a planing application on his land.

 

We did this prior to buying our plot, we applied for outline planning while the plot was still owned by the vendor and only proceeded with the purchase when that was granted.

[ToughButterCup]

1 hour ago, Digger1 said:

A neighbour has written a letter of objection against our proposed development. 

...

 Is it advisable to write a letter to the planning department outlining these inaccuracies (?)

...

They are saying the development goes over their boundary, ...

 

You will have submitted a site plan. That plan ought to be based on the relevant Land Registry documents . Is your plan based on the LR map?

[Digger1]

2 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

You will have submitted a site plan. That plan ought to be based on the relevant Land Registry documents . Is your plan based on the LR map?

The site plan is drawn on an ordinance survey plan.  The boundary there corresponds to the land registry docs.

 

Just to add, they aren't disputing where the boundary lays, they are suggesting the new build goes over the boundary, which is wont.

[jack]

14 minutes ago, Digger1 said:

Just to add, they aren't disputing where the boundary lays, they are suggesting the new build goes over the boundary, which is wont.

 

Odd. If they aren't disputing where the boundary lays, and your site plan shows you aren't building over the boundary, what's their basis for arguing otherwise? Do they provide any explanation?

[ToughButterCup]

In which case, the Planners won't care....

[Digger1]

27 minutes ago, jack said:

 

Odd. If they aren't disputing where the boundary lays, and your site plan shows you aren't building over the boundary, what's their basis for arguing otherwise? Do they provide any explanation?

They feel my plan is drawn incorrectly and the extension will go up to/over the boundary.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Digger1

[Mr Punter]

I have bought a site in the past and the consented house did not fit.  It was out by a fair bit.

 

For clarity you could mark up your plan with a minimum clearance measurement to the boundary.  We have done this in the past for clarity, as the neighbour claimed that we may not build to plan.

[joe90]

18 minutes ago, Digger1 said:

They feel my plan is drawn incorrectly and the extension will go up to/over the boundary.

Ha, that’s bollocks, if your plan shows your build within your boundary that’s what you will build (I am guessing they are NIMBYs)

[jack]

44 minutes ago, Digger1 said:

They feel my plan is drawn incorrectly and the extension will go up to/over the boundary.

 

If it's shown as not encroaching on the boundary, then their objection is speculative nonsense.

 

I'd write a brief reply pointing out that the plan agrees with the boundaries on the ground, and that the house will be built as shown in the plans (i.e., within the boundaries). I can't see how planning can do anything other than ignore the neighbour's objection.

[saveasteading]

Always write to the planner to correct any errors in objections.

Do it asap to give them time to consider, and it even saves them the time of reporting on any discounted arguments. so planner will be happy to get it...esp if your message states the point, and the proof of why it is wrong.

keep it polite and professional, esp factual.

eg here is our proposal plan and we have shown the boundary on it, and here is copy of deeds showing same boundary.

[ToughButterCup]

That (above) would not be my approach @saveasteading, but I can see the value of yours. The rationale for my approach is to show that I don't attach any value to errors of fact. If the Planner were to decide against  awarding planning permission based on erroneous information, then the subsequent Appeal would be very easy. I assume,  maybe wrongly,  a basic level of competence among planners.

 

The delay, and extra costs involved would irritate though. 

[joe90]

1 hour ago, ToughButterCup said:

The delay, and extra costs involved would irritate though. 

 A reason to nip it in the bud before they refuse planning. If a planner can see a copy of an OS map and the location of the build within the borders what’s to object to?

[joe90]

On 27/07/2021 at 15:32, Digger1 said:

The letter they have written contains some inaccurate information relating to our build.

we had a Neighbour who objected to loads of different stuff, I wrote listing each point giving my evidence why each point was wrong, it was on the public web site and everyone could read it. 

[Digger1]

Is it wise to send a copy letter of response to the neighbour too or just to the planning office?

[Bitpipe]

3 minutes ago, Digger1 said:

Is it wise to send a copy letter of response to the neighbour too or just to the planning office?

 

Just to the planners.

 

TBH LA do not usually concern themselves with the legality of building (ownership of land etc) as that is a civil matter. They are focused on planning policy.

 

One of our objections raised a covenant on the land and they basically said 'nothing to do with us' in the commentary.

 

Remember, getting PP means you are allowed to build it - does not mean you can build it (legal reasons, building regs, laws of physics etc).

[joe90]

44 minutes ago, Digger1 said:

Is it wise to send a copy letter of response to the neighbour too or just to the planning office?

it’s not the complainers you respond too, your letter will go on the planning portal so will be seen by anyone concerned.

[epsilonGreedy]

On 27/07/2021 at 17:55, Digger1 said:

They feel my plan is drawn incorrectly and the extension will go up to/over the boundary.

 

 

Who drew up the site plan for your application?

 

Assuming it was a professional surveyor then I would refer the neighbours planning objection to that pro and ask him to produce a revision to the site plan that includes additional annotated clearance distances.

 

If a commitment to clearance distances is part of your planning application then the planners have the assurance there is an enforceable item and so they can claim to have given consideration to the neighbour's objection. 

 

 

[epsilonGreedy]

30 minutes ago, joe90 said:

it’s not the complainers you respond too, your letter will go on the planning portal so will be seen by anyone concerned.

 

 

Absolutely, don't go near them or say anything or do any boundary maintenance near the area of dispute. 

 

After becoming the victim of assault following a boundary dispute which led to my assailant acquiring a criminal record, I sent a registered letter to the neighbour stating that in future I would only talk to her at a pre arranged meeting with additional witnesses present. Two days later a PCSO knocked at my door wanting to discuss my "threatening behaviour".

[Dudda]

Have to agree with epsilonGreedy here. The first thing I'd do is get the whoever did the drawings to make sure they haven't made any mistake and the building will fit and for them to review it. eg if the site is 10 meters wide and the site plan shows the house at 8 meters wide then it fits. If the Ground Floor plan drawing shows the house as 11 meters wide (even if it's a typo) then you've a problem as it won't fit.

 

Another project I worked on the boundary was at a very slight angle like 87 degrees instead of 90 degrees. The back of the building didn't fit on the site and had to resubmit planning.

 

Simple errors and mistakes are made. Get them to check all dimensions. Make sure everything is correct before sending anything to the planners.