Planning Conditions - advice?

[mike2016]

Hi,

I just got planning permission but there are two conditions I'm concerned about:

• Revised plans indicating windows facing a main road in the interest of promoting passive surveillance
• The existing tree to the front of the site shall be retained and protected, both above and below ground, from damage during construction works

The first relates to a decision I made to NOT have windows on one side of the house as at the weekend it's frequented at odd hours with late night revellers, late night buses letting people off and a nightclub up the road. All the bus stops on this road are now plexiglass instead of glass for years due to vandalism. My worry is of course my new house would be the closest of any house on that road and attractive to a stone being thrown or two. They say windows plural - I could put on in a glazed atrium for the living room / vaulted ceiling, would love to in fact but it will be too high up to see out of. Plus the existing house has NO windows on this side either! The bedroom would provide a window you could look out of but it would increase the traffic noise. Nothing may never happen but there's a pedestrian opening opposite into another housing estate and a pedestrian crossing beside that and groups of youths often congregate there. The cost of replacing a window cartridge and access to it after the build is done and scaffolding is down will be tricky. 

The second relates to trees put down by the builder in the estate 20 years ago. They grow up and out (don't know the variety) and are often cut down after 20-30 years and replanted according to a local tree surgeon. The risk is I've to put in two new parking spots in the front garden of the old house nearby and the root system may be disturbed causing damage / loss of the tree. I don't see how I can protect against that without raising the level of the new parking spaces? Roots are 600mm below the surface I'm told and the parking spaces are right by the tree which is over 6 meters high. I can reinstate a mature tree if all fails but not sure the planners would be accept that. 

Interested in thoughts if you'd had to have similar discussions with your planners and how to tackle these issues in a sensitive & appropriate way.

Thanks.

 

Edited July 7, 2018 by mike2016
added photo

[ToughButterCup]

15 minutes ago, mike2016 said:

[...]

Revised plans indicating windows facing a main road in the interest of promoting passive surveillance

[...]

 

And, in the context of  windows, what is the difference between active and passive surveillance ?  Windows don't surveil anything. 

[Triassic]

I don’t see it as your roll  to provide passive surveillance, it’s the council and the Police who should do this where problems exist. I’d also talk to the planner directly and point out that the existing house does not have windows on that elevation.

 

maybe an arbocultural report could find fault with the tree, nod nod, wink wink. You could then undertake to replace it with a new specimen tree.

[PeterW]

1 hour ago, mike2016 said:

 The existing tree to the front of the site shall be retained and protected, both above and below ground, from damage during construction works

 

Standard clause where trees are present. 

 

Requires a fence to BS5837:2012 to protect the base of the tree and it’s root system. 

 

Easy to do with a couple of bits of Heras fencing and some scaff poles. See Page 20 for the design  - you need to work out your RPA from Appendix D

[mike2016]

Thanks - the tree protection was different to what I thought. I'm thinking about the roots which will be under the ground where the new car parking spaces are to go, the planners are more likely talking about the Heras protection quoted here. Good distinction to understand, Thanks!

I think the fact that the old house has no windows is a good case to point out along with some other things.....

[Ferdinand]

Has your PP now been determined?

 

Problem is that now it involves new applications to change it, unless you can creatively meet your conditions.

 

Caught me out when the Planning Officer abracadabra’d a cripplingly short time restriction onto a business change of use on the last morning, without talking to *anyone* about it, despite having been in discussion for months; CoU was about a third of the agreed lease length. First I saw was the decision notice.  Broke the payback period for the project and made us engage in expensive lease renegotiations.

 

F

Edited July 7, 2018 by Ferdinand

[Ferdinand]

1 hour ago, Triassic said:

I don’t see it as your roll  to provide passive surveillance, it’s the council and the Police who should do this where problems exist. I’d also talk to the planner directly and point out that the existing house does not have windows on that elevation.

 

maybe an arbocultural report could find fault with the tree, nod nod, wink wink. You could then undertake to replace it with a new specimen tree.

 

I think that passive surveillance and eg active frontages are in the last several versions of planning guidance nationally, and may be in the policies of your Council, which would make them planning considerations.

 

F

[Triassic]

Passive surveillance - The discouragement to wrongdoing by the presence of passers-by or the ability of people to be seen out of surrounding windows. Also known as passive surveillance (or supervision).

 

from what I’ve seen of wrongdoers, many crave an audience, it’s part of the buzz.

 

So with the UK being the most survailed counties, why do we need more!?

Edited July 7, 2018 by Triassic

[Ferdinand]

47 minutes ago, Triassic said:

Passive surveillance - The discouragement to wrongdoing by the presence of passers-by or the ability of people to be seen out of surrounding windows. Also known as passive surveillance (or supervision).

 

from what I’ve seen of wrongdoers, many crave an audience, it’s part of the buzz.

 

So with the UK being the most survailed counties, why do we need more!?

The classic example is isolated unsurveilled parking courts.

 

Possible surveillance via a couple of windows makes a difference to the perception of the scrote.

 

Love ‘passive surveillance ... also known as passive surveillance’ :-). Manual writer being paid by the word, perhaps!

Edited July 7, 2018 by Ferdinand

[Triassic]

15 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

Possible surveillance via a couple of windows makes a difference to the perception of the scrote.

You must have a better class of scrote, round here the hoody draw string is tightened and the scrotes became bolder and don’t give a dam who watches. 

[Ferdinand]

1 hour ago, Triassic said:

You must have a better class of scrote, round here the hoody draw string is tightened and the scrotes became bolder and don’t give a dam who watches. 

 

I have to admit I do not have extensive scrote surveillance experience ?, but i do note that people who have the option of parking in passively surveilled or not surveilled parking areas choose the former.

 

Which means that presumably the latter will be future potential self-build plots for warriors with paperwork machetes who can get through the thicket of bureaucratic rules which keep them as empty parking areas 

 

F

Edited July 7, 2018 by Ferdinand

[ProDave]

I would not be happy being forced to put windows where I did not want them and being a target for undesirables. I might even consider taking it to appeal if they did not back down. I would want to see a written planning policy that is actually legal before giving in. I would argue it is not my place to police a dodgy area.

 

One of my pet hates with my first house was a communal parking area that I could not see from my own house. I was just not comfortable (knowing the area) with my car parked out of my sight over night. It was overlooked by other houses, but that did not give me any reassurance.  I never did have any trouble while there, but then again I was driving an old banger that was not exactly "desirable"  After that, wen I moved up, my own driveway was a "must have".

[bassanclan]

Maybe an agreement to fit cctv to provide actual surveillance might allow you to apply to change the windows condition?

 

If you wanted the tree gone then you should really have cut it down before making the application 

[mike2016]

Well, there's another house opposite a little further down the road with damage to their side window recently so I'm going to speak to them and see what happened. It might strengthen my case as their gable window is 7 meters from the wall, mine will be only 1. I'll have CCTV as a mater of course for my own protection but hoodies abound and it won't repair the damage. I can get bulletproof glass if I'm forced this way to at least limit the risk of damage but it will be interesting to see how this pans out. 

The tree, well, I've to access underground services and put in two car parking spaces, if the root system gets damage and the tree becomes a hazard I'll have to take professional advice about site safety and do what's necessary. 

Funny though - I'd love to keep the tree and I'd love a glass atrium window but the realities weigh against this......

Thanks everyone! 

 

[jack]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but if there's no tree preservation order on that tree, then the mandated protection scheme only counts until a completion certificate is issued for the house. Once you've got that, you can just remove the tree at will.

[PeterW]

5 hours ago, jack said:

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but if there's no tree preservation order on that tree, then the mandated protection scheme only counts until a completion certificate is issued for the house. Once you've got that, you can just remove the tree at will.

 

Thats correct unless you are in a conservation area where you need permission to do tree work. 

[jack]

Yes, sorry, forgot to mention that one!