Well done for perservering. LPA behaviour riles me though. We had an application and didn't even get to communicate with the CO for 6 months, no replies to emails, phone calls, zilch! Then when they did finally enagge with us they said they were leaving the council in 2 days time. The money, yes you wonder what you're paying for but the uncertainty can affect your mental wellbeing as well. Hope you came through unscathed on that front as well.

We had a 2 year battle as well with the first application turned down on pathetic, vague and sketchy grounds. I had no budget for a planning consultant but second time around and via a subtle "complaint" and some psychology we prevailed. But a whole load of stress and time I won't get back. I'm convinced that without the professional skills I have in my day job I would still be at it. I shouldn't have needed to deploy those however.