Reasons to support a planning application

[Daniel H]

Hi folks!

 

We have finally submitted our planning application - big news!

 

We've been lucky enough to meet some really wonderful neighbours and I'd like to ask for their support of our application.

 

I can find plenty of content on the best ways to object to planning applications, but are there 'material' reasons for support? I'd like to offer a set of reasons to people so they have something significant to say. Or is it more a case that any comments in support are good on the basis that they're so rare in the first place?

 

Advice gratefully received!

[Marvin]

Hi @Daniel H

 

In my humble opinion...

 

No point trying to convince the general public. 90% of their objections are not planning related. However to encourage planning check what they say they are wanting and identify how your plans support their planning strategy.

 

You can still add documents to your application, however, the clock usually starts once the final revisions by yourself are submitted!

 

Check the local council's planning strategy and find items that support your development.

 

I have added when the neighbours (only the ones whose land is bordered by your plot or access way...),have been involved in discussion, and if they raised no objections.

 

I have included when the property aims to achieve a high level of insulation, any designs included to avoid irritating neighbours, keeping of any existing features, is in-keeping with the local area, and so on. 

 

Good luck

 

M 

 

Obviously if your in the peak district National park, things might be tricky....

This may help.

 

https://www.highpeak.gov.uk/media/160/The-High-Peak-Local-Plan-Adopted-April-2016/pdf/The_High_Peak_Local_Plan_Adopted_April_2016.pdf

 

 

[ToughButterCup]

2 hours ago, Daniel H said:

... but are there 'material' reasons for support? ...

 

Yes.

Look to see (online) why similar applications have succeeded in the not so distant past. Read the Decision Notices of successful applications very carefully, especially the Conclusions drawn. They (ought to) will have a clearly argued case as to why the application was allowed. In the process you will see at least some of the objections in an application, note how they were overcome (?) dismissed(?) . The stated reason for acceptance might not be Material to your application - but search for long enough and you will find some.

 

Good luck

 

When you've done that, tell your neighbours what you've found out and ask them to support your application.

[Daniel H]

Thanks for your advice! 

 

@Marvin - we've covered as many of these points as we possibly could. I agree most people won't engage, although we have met a lot of very nice folk whom I'm not above begging to say something nice!

 

@ToughButterCup - the new search functionality helps on the Planning Portal enormously. We have a sense of the Planning Officer and his approach (plus he did our pre-app!) so the slightly thin ice is flagged already. My hope is to show the neighbours are keen on these aspects and if it's just his subjective opinion, that other equally subjective opinions express the other view.

 

Appreciate your engagement very much. The application is up there on the Portal and just waiting for the documents to go live before the lovebombing starts!

[G and J]

Have you let the neighbours (definitely those who will be formerly consulted) that the application is in? Better you do it than them just received a notice.

 

We let the whole street know, as the build will affect their access (e.g road closing in March for electric to go underground). It could be argued that this isn't necessary but living in a small community everybody will look at the planning notice when posted, and will have an opinion of some sort.

 

I hope you do get some letters of support. We were happy to get some neutral, and in the scheme of things the objections we got we were either aware of in advance or they were non material in planning terms, so although it's hard try not to take it personally. 

 

Wishing you every success

[TerryE]

We had a big plot in the centre of the village where we'd lived in an old stone farmhouse for 30 years. We then put in an application to split the plot, so we could build a modern low-maintenance, low-energy house on the bottom half and sell off the farmhouse to free up some tied up capital.  The planning process took over 3 years. We had 7 neighbours whose properties shared a boundary with use. 5 didn't care, or supported our application. 2 complained like buggery, but the real nub of their complaint was "I used to overlook a pretty cottage garden at the bottom of my garden; it's now going to be a house."  These objections were worrying, but carried no weight in the planning assessment. 

 

One of the neighbours kept complaining to Planning Enforcement about all sorts of issues.  One of the complaints was that we had built the house ½m too close to their boundary fence.  PE came out, measured up and agreed that the house was ½m closer to the boundary than the plans indicated and asked us "as a formality" to put in an MMA to "rectify" the situation.  I declined to do this, pointing out that the foundation was the correct distance from our front road and that since the neighbours house hadn't suddenly moved ½m closer to our road, it the position of the house relative to theirs was as per plans.  The problem was that the neighbours or the previous owners had moved the boundary fence ½m behind what used to be a 1½ m deep laurel hedge to pinch a corner of our garden.  This was a boundary issue between me and my neighbour and not relevant to the planning process.  The PE officer withdrew the request in the end but got pissed with us and ran interference during the build.

 

8 years later and all is forgotten, 3 of the neighbouring properties have been sold. None of the new neighbours seem concerned that there is a a handsome stone clad new-build at the bottom of their garden.

 

Moral: Try to keep the neighbours onside during the process, but accept that you might piss some off whatever you do. (E.g. I didn't make a big issue of this ½m corner-cut when I noticed it, as we were building a new house at the bottom of their garden, but it still came back to bite us.)

[Daniel H]

Thanks @G and J - I'm in two minds. Partly I'd like to try to let things go under the radar, but you are right: people will spot the sign and talk about it! Mainly the people we know are the very local folk. We also did think we'd put a card and an explainer into all the local homes. I think people might like that.

 

And @TerryE - We'll certainly get some objections and that's, I think, par for the course. I have tried to anticipate these and just make sure there's a robust defence or report where needed. We've tried to be quite clear where the proposal is an improvement on the existing planning permission and accentuate the positive!