Planning stupidity

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I am feeling a bit out of my depth and hope some of you can offer one advice.
I live at Badersfield ex RAF Coltishall, the residents own the roads and grounds for which we pay £830 plus each per year in management fees. The local authorities have with backing of Heritage England placed a conservation status on the area, additionally the residents have article 4 orders placed on our homes so we are extremely limited to what we can do. There is a short stay school here which is owned by the education authority and is an academy, they enjoy the benefits of being here but do not contribute any fees. We are lucky in that there is an abundance of trees and open spaces along with an RAF Memorial garden adjoining the school and opposite our homes. Around a month ago the school erected a multi coloured MUGA (multi use games area) on a piece of grass adjoining our road and opposite the homes, this looks more like a fair ground attraction being multi coloured and certainly not suitable for this environment. At first the local authority planners said schools have permitted rights but should take into consideration any local conditions, later it transpired that as the school had become an academy they no longer benefit from these rights and the school was told to cease all work until matter resolved, only the surface needs putting down to complete the work. Agents for the school have met with the planning officer and we expect retrospective application soon. We get the feeling rightly or wrongly that we could be stitched up on this, I get this impression from speaking with a planning officer from another authority. Sorry for long post but bear with me. There are so many reasons this should not be allowed to stay, as residents we put up with the pupils who sometimes run amok shouting and swearing so a play area this close to us and the memorial seems so wrong. The school deeds have covenants not to cause noise or nuisance but of course to enforce them requires hiring solicitors for which funds are not available. The school seemingly care not a jot for the environment or their neighbours and of course would use public money (our money) to fight anything we come up with.
The neighbours will of course object to this structure but we get the feeling this may be a slam dunk.
Are there any groups or people who can help us fight this?
Any advice would be very much appreciated, and thanks for bearing with me.
 
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Heritage England are aware and will object if there is a referral, yes hind sight re school is great but in all honesty the school has changed considerably since we moved here and our lack of enforcement of the covenants has allowed this.
Thanks for your reply though.
 
I've seen a very similar case to this go to Planning Committee, with sizable and passionate objections. However, after tediously long deliberations on the part of the committee, they concluded that they were powerless to act against the provision of the amenity itself - even though it was clear to everyone what that amenity would bring.
 
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well i was right we have been stitched up, I spoke with the planning officer today who thought there was no problems with the structure despite the fact we cannot even change the colour of our doors, he did not think this sitting in a conservation area was a problem nor the fact that the school only has 4ft climbable fence around it so the balls will no doubt be kicked out onto the road.
My neighbour was in planning and did say that there would be people from the education authority speaking with the planners to ease this through and it appears the is correct.
thanks for the replies though.
one rule for the residents and one for the school
 
Find out whether the school actually has a restrictive covenant in place by going to the land registry and buying a copy of their deeds. Costs £3 for the deeds and £3 for the plans.

You're trying to work out whether they actually have a burden of a restrictive covenant and that your property has the benefit of it.
 
Yes I have a copy of the deeds and there are covenants regarding parking on the roads, causing a noise nuisance, noxious smells etc.
But in all honesty the school do not care, they used to ignore them and in all honesty act like bullies when reminded.
To enforce the covenants can be very expensive.
The planning department are not interested in these as it is a civil matter to enforce them.
Thanks for the reply though.
 
The councils Environmental Health dept will enforce noise nuisance complaints. Alternatively a private EHO will assist.
 
Has anyone EVER heard a quiet school playground at break time? I know I haven't.
 
Yes I have a copy of the deeds and there are covenants regarding parking on the roads, causing a noise nuisance, noxious smells etc.
But in all honesty the school do not care, they used to ignore them and in all honesty act like bullies when reminded.
To enforce the covenants can be very expensive.
The planning department are not interested in these as it is a civil matter to enforce them.
Thanks for the reply though.

Yes you're right, planning has nothing to do with covenants.

Does the covenant in the deeds point to the surrounding properties or owner that has the benefit of the covenant? Usually, a restrictive covenant comes with a burden and a benefit. It should be mentioned in the wording on the deeds what is the responsibility of the holder of the burdened property and who the benefit protects.
 
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Has anyone EVER heard a quiet school playground at break time? I know I haven't.

And if the OP made a civil claim then I'm sure this point would be argued as not being a noise nuisance but part of their everyday, standard and acceptable levels of noise. I would think that if they're doing anything over and above this, like holding trumpet practise in the school field, then that's when the noise nuisance could be enforced.
 
Are there any covenants that favour the school such as free access to the property over the private roads ?. If the school are ignoring covenants that protect / benefit the residents then the residents might be justified in ignoring any covenants that protect / benefit the school. Then resident have a bargaining point in the resolution of the matter.
 
Just to clarify the school is a short stay school with no more than 8 to 10 pupils a day who arrive in taxi or mini bus so there is no play time as such but being troubled youths their behaviour and or language can be ripe.
The covenants are quite strict, the school have access to their school only with no other easements to park on our roads, they have access to their property and not allowed to go beyond their boundary.
The school is listed as a junior school in deeds but is now a short stay school. The school is opposite what used to be flying officers homes. The road is a private road with no public rights of way. The deeds state in favour of the owners which when written was the MOD, but it states they must not cause noise, nuisance, noxious smells etc to the owners now or any owners in the future which is now the residents of the road.
The issue being the cost to enforce these covenants would be costly to the residents company.
The whole area is a conservation area but the school have erected this MUGA without planning permission probably in the knowledge that once erected they will most likely get retrospective planning permission. Sort of bully tactics really.
 
The school being a short stay school has around 8 to 10 pupils a day who arrive by taxi, the roads are private with no rights of way. The school has the right to drive to their place of work but not allowed to park on the road as there are specifically no easements. The deeds also state the school must not cause a noise, nuisance or noxious smells to the owners now (the MOD) or any owners in the future (us). The problem being enforcing these covenants as the cost is quite prohibitive, of course the school would have access to the county council solicitors. The MUGA will cause noise over and above what has been normal for residents as it is metal and multi coloured so sits under trees that are protected by the conservation status. I feel sure the head teacher is well aware it is most likely that he will get retrospective planning permission as that is the norm, to move the structure costs apparently around £15,000 to £20,000.
Yet the residents who own the roads and grounds have to abide by the conservation status.
I guess the school had a grant from Sport England but they are probably unaware that he did not have planning permission and has ignored their advice on siting these, he could I suppose have committed an offence of obtaining money by false pretences.
I do thank you all who have taken the trouble to offer advice though.

My PC had frozen so this post is nearly a duplicate, sorry.
 

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