Contacting consultee directly?

[Drellingore]

Is it 'okay' to contact a statutory consultee directly while an application is being determined?

 

The Environment Agency somewhat hilariously object to the drainage strategy for our barn conversion because it's not clear to them that we won't be discharging animal waste. Despite the fact that it's clearly described as a change of use to residential dwelling, and the point on the plans at which animal waste was historically discharged is now a lounge, labelled as such, featuring a fireplace. (The missus has now asked if we can keep a pony in the lounge.)

 

My assigned planning officer is now on annual leave, three weeks after the first determination deadline, and she'll miss her own nominated extension deadline as a result. If I send her an updated drainage strategy making it absolutely crystal clear to the inobservant that there will be no animal waste, there'll be another week's delay in getting it to the EA. So I could email it directly, but I don't know if that is some sort of breach of protocol. I'm thinking to email it to both of them at once.

 

Their response:

 

Note the use of past tense:

Part of the building in question, as drawn in the drainage strategy:

 

[nod]

They seem to make the rules up as they go along There’s nothing to stop you contacting directly What’s the worse that can happen 

[twice round the block]

I found EA good to deal with directly in the past both for advice and site visits.

[Conor]

We did. Local rivers team wanted some reassurances, so I emailed them directly and CCed the planning team in. This was because last time it took them three months to send on documents. Don't ask, just do.

[dpmiller]

why even refer to the past use anyway?

[ProDave]

As above.  I would not have even mentioned previous animal waste.  I would just have mentioned previous rainwater drainage that has proved satisfactory.

[joe90]

2 hours ago, Drellingore said:

Note the use of past tense:

Too subtle for some pencil pushers. Yes I found the EA easy to deal with, crack on.

[DevilDamo]

The Planning Officer should know that and in their report, would refer to the information which deals with the particular objection. No harm in emailing the consultee and copying in the Planning Officer for a full belt and braces approach though. 

[Dave Jones]

make sure to copy in the planning officer its their job to liaise with statutory consultees.

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

I found the EA easy to deal with, crack on.

Ditto. Real people, but understaffed of course.

Keep it an easy read...some misunderstanding .....there is and will be zero waste.....

[Redbeard]

To be fair I'd have read 'animal waste discharged....' as 'animal waste *is* discharged...'. Along with the previous and subsequent items it seems to read as a list. I think all you need to do is clarify in writing that it was meant to say/mean 'used to be discharged in the distant past. For the avoidance of doubt there is not, and will not be, any animal waste on site.' Or summat like that, and I see no reason why you should not write to the consultee, cc the LPA.

[Drellingore]

2 hours ago, dpmiller said:

why even refer to the past use anyway?

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

As above.  I would not have even mentioned previous animal waste.  I would just have mentioned previous rainwater drainage that has proved satisfactory.

 

A lesson learned. The intention was to make sure it was on record that the surface water sewer that this all eventually leads to once carried animal waste, and that was fine for decades, so they shouldn't complain about any rainwater I'm putting down there. In the full document there's a subsequent section of proposals, so it should have been clear what was current and what is proposed. Ho-hum.

 

3 minutes ago, Redbeard said:

I think all you need to do is clarify in writing that it was meant to say/mean 'used to be discharged in the distant past. For the avoidance of doubt there is not, and will not be, any animal waste on site.'

 

Ha, I'm encouraged that that's pretty much exactly what I've done. From the email I'd drafted about a revised drainage plan: "The new version has the word "historic" added to paragraph 5.1 describing the animal waste that once used to be discharged in the western lean-to, and a new paragraph 6.11 that explicitly states that no animal waste is to be discharged on site."

 

Thanks for the thoughts all, I'll email them both and let y'all know how I get on.

[Alan Ambrose]

>>> I found EA good to deal with directly in the past both for advice and site visits.

 

Jeez, I'm on 18 weeks and reading their acknowledgement letter more carefully it says:

 

"Your application should be allocated within 6 months..." !!!

 

FFS. This is for simple output from a treatment plant to a ditch that the rest of the neighbours are using.

[saveasteading]

2 minutes ago, Alan Ambrose said:

treatment plant to a ditch that the rest of the neighbours are using.

So you would all be in trouble. 

Why not dig the trenches but delay linking to the ditch?

Then the almost clean outfall soaks away but you haven't connected to the ditch.

135 litres per person per day isn't much liquid to soak away, and you could reduce that if it mattered.

 

[DevilDamo]

@Alan Ambrose Just curious, do you not have the ability or function to quote?

[Drellingore]

I emailed the EA and CC'd the planning office (both the officer who was on annual leave and the department inbox). Neither party seemed to think this is unreasonable, and I'm pleased to say that 12 days later we got the EA's approval of our drainage strategy - one which all the the drainage consultants I spoke to said would be impossible to get approval for.

 

Cheers for your help, all.

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, Drellingore said:

all the the drainage consultants

I have to say that  'drainage consultants' I have come across don't seem as expert or as interested as I would hope.

They have  perhaps a habit of overcomplicating things.

The EA on the other hand are reasonable, just understaffed. You have made it an easy to understand situation, and hence their decision too.

Well done.

 

[ToughButterCup]

9 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

I have to say that  'drainage consultants' I have come across don't seem as expert or as interested as I would hope.

...

 

Well done Sir! Top of the Class. Diplomat of The Year Award.   

I found that on our  house build, everyone, but everyone tries really hard not to talk about anything that smells or could smell if things go wrong.