Access to land under Article 4?!

[KimberlyAnn]

Hi folks,

I recently submitted a Permitted Development to create an access, gate and fence for my land. It is adjacent to a lane, so I anticipated no problems. The council informed me that the land is now under an article 4 (done during our sale, so I had no idea ) so I'll have to apply for the gate and fence through planning permission.

My question is, can I still create an access to the land under permitted development? There is a hedge and ditch between the tarmac and my plot, but no pedestrian path. I wonder about this because the council seems to be taking a long time to decide and I'm worried they'll come back and say no - meaning I have land that I cannot get to; the grass is growing and I fear I'll be left with wasteland !

Separately, should the council make it clear why the article 4 was added to the land? I have read the 10 page document but all it says is what you cannot do - at no point does it say why it was added.

Many thanks in advance for your time and expertise.

 

[^woody^]

I'm not sure what you mean by "submitted a Permitted Development", as permitted development is a "pre-approved" form of planning permission for certain types of development, and does not require any application to the council.

Anyway, an Article 4 Directive means that the council has removed any permitted development rights which may have existed, and the land owner then has to apply for full planning approval. They do this to control any development such as in conservation areas or on new housing estates.

It's not clear for what you are applying for permission, as fences gates and accesses may not actually require planning permission in the first place.

The council does not know about house sales and so can put an Article 4 Directive on it when its sold. These directives are placed on the original planning permission, or at a later stage for a wider area.

 

[KimberlyAnn]

I'm not sure what you mean by "submitted a Permitted Development", as permitted development is a "pre-approved" form of planning permission for certain types of development, and does not require any application to the council.

I submitted a form to check that all I planned did indeed fall under Permitted Development - it was then that they replied to me to tall me I can not build a gate and fence as it falls under an Article 4. Ordinarily under the GPDO I could indeed build a gate and fence (less than 1 metre high) but not with this Article 4.
The article 4 was added during the process where I bought the land - not specifically because of the sale, it just happened to come at that time...

I'll need to apply for planning permission for the gate and fence now (after doing some more research, PP fees are waived due to the article 4), but I still don't know whether I have a good chance of getting the access itself under Permitted Development. Effectively I am requesting to create a gap in the hedgerow to drive through and create permeable surfaced driveway large enough to park a car on my land.
There is not suitable parking nearby, and even if there were I can't actually get at the land without chopping down a bit of hedge!

 

[^woody^]

You're actually applying for planning permission then, and permitted development no longer comes into it.

The council will assess the application based on their policies and impact on the neighbours and area.

For this type of application, impact should be negligible. The planners will ask the council's highway dept for their opinions. So consider sight-lines when accessing/leaving your land, and how pedestrians will be affected. Mention the benefits of doing away with on street parking.

Removal of the hedge is not a planning consideration as you could do that anyway. For the fence, gate and drive, its just a matter of design, and the council may favour one type over another, but its not something with will lead to refusal.

 

[KimberlyAnn]

I completely understand that I need Planning Permission for a gate and fence, I haven't applied yet so:

For this type of application, impact should be negligible. The planners will ask the council's highway dept for their opinions. So consider sight-lines when accessing/leaving your land, and how pedestrians will be affected. Mention the benefits of doing away with on street parking.

Is very useful thank you.

My question was the access itself (cut down part of the hedge, stick down a permeable surface).

You've said:

Removal of the hedge is not a planning consideration as you could do that anyway.

Is that true? Even with an article 4 can I just go and chop down hedgegrow?!

And the driveway isn't covered in the article 4 so in theory can I go ahead and build a permeable surface to park on?

My main concern is 'can the council stop me from having basic access to my land?'

 

[^woody^]

Sorry I read hedge on the first post, but it's hedgerow in the latter post.

Hedgerow implies conservation or green belt type area, which could explain the article 4. So there could be specific things the council wants to protect, so you need to check their policies and read the article 4 statement.

There is a specific law relating to hedgerows, but you can cut an opening in them for access without permission. There are other criteria, so it all depends on the specifics of what you want to do, in the context of what is there already.

Access will also depend on whose land the access will cross. There may be highways implications which will not come under the planners remit to give permission for.

 

[KimberlyAnn]

Thanks for your replies woody, I got my response back from the council and it looks like everything has to be under PP. specifically in the interests of this post the access:

Under Class B of Part 2 of the General Permitted Development Order, planning permission is
required for the ‘formation, layout out and construction of a means of access to a highway’ onto a
classified road.

I also need to contact the waterway agency to pipe the ditch. The permeable surface also requires PP. So here's hoping I get PP, otherwise the original problem of inaccessible land still exists! The cutting of the hedge/hedgerow is not mentioned at all, so I believe you are right in that I can cut a section to gain pedestrian access - perhaps this is the interim solution. Since I've been blocked under article 4 my PP application will be free so this is one bonus![/quote]