fall out shelter planning permission

[ColJack]

Just out of curiosity, what are the rules on building a fallout shelter in the back garden?
presumably I'd have to submit plans and get drains etc moved if they were in the way.
on the off chance that I won the eurolottery tonight and bought a big house with several acres of land that nothing goes through, would it be something similar to installing a swimming pool?

 

[JohnD]

there is an exemption from Building Regs and Planning Permission provided:

Internal Floor area no more than 30 sq metres

depth is no greater than the distance to the nearest building.

so you do not have to submit plans.

Tell your neighbours that it is a septic tank or something, otherwise they will try to break in when the bomb falls.

I expect someone will have a link to the rule, it has been here before. Try a search.

 

[ColJack]

is that 30sqm for the living area only or does it include storage etc..
if I built 2 close together, could I link them with tunnels?

 

[JohnD]

30-sq m is for the finished internal floor area.

I doubt you would get away with building two at 30m each, or adding tunnels without including the floor area of the tunnel.

because the 30 sq m is a concession with a limit.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Just out of curiosity, are you anticipating a nuclear strike? I'll be sitting out on the deck with me shades on if it ever kicked off! Its only evolution afterall.

 

[bernardgreen]

The problem with any effective nuclear fall out shelter ( effective as in that it kept you alive until all the bombs had been used up ) is what on earth will you find when you come out of the shelter.

A quick zap and goodbye in 10 seconds of pain may be better than long drawn out death by starvation and thirst assisted by slow radiation poisoning.

 

[ColJack]

I've seen many movies and played many games, and I'd just wanna know if they got it right...

besides, that woman across the road said "not even if you were the last man on earth..." and I want to see if she really ment it..

30m² doesn't sound like a lot.. not for 2-4 people for a number of years

 

[JohnD]

I heard they were meant to have conditions of "bearable discomfort"

It won't be "for years" and anyway you would starve.

An interesting thing I heard about "half-lives" of radioactive material:

If it has a short half-life, that means it gives out a lot of radiation over a short period, then it becomes so weak it is safe

It is has a very long half-life, that means it gives out radiation at a very low level, so the radiation (unless it is very concentrated) is not so strong; it just lasts a long time.

 

[muggles]

I've seen many movies and played many games, and I'd just wanna know if they got it right...

besides, that woman across the road said "not even if you were the last man on earth..." and I want to see if she really ment it..

30m² doesn't sound like a lot.. not for 2-4 people for a number of years

Number of years!?!? Are you expecting to grow your own food in there as well? Or do you think you'll be able to magically teleport it from somewhere? Seriously, if we get hit big enough to need the shelter, and we probably won't, there'll be no food left, you'll die anyway.

 

[ColJack]

geothermal dore hole for energy, hydroponics for food..

not sure what to do about meat though.. if I have pigs i can use the veg peel to feed them, they're self replicating to a degree and the poop will be good fertilizer...

this all started when my brother and I were asked to quote to repair some cables in an old WWII underground factory that had been converted into a fallout bunker until it was sold off to a private buyer..

Drakelow

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• ColJack
• 23 Jun 2009
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• ColJack
• 23 Jun 2009
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• ColJack
• 23 Jun 2009
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• ColJack
• 23 Jun 2009
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some ***** git broke in and tried to saw through the cables to the generator..
got through 3 big cables then found the live supply from the national grid..
found the melted hacksaw still sticking out of the cable..

 

[inspector01]

Interesting if not a slightly disturbing post.... 30m2 limit does not apply if sleeping accomodation is provided but from memory there are exemptions for nuclear shelters... will read the building act and get back to you..

 

[Bodgeit and scarper ltd]

 

[allYourBaseAreBelongToUs]

Does anyone have the REFERENCE (section ? of Town and country planning act 1990 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/contents ) to the exemption you think exists re planning permission ?

My local planning officers line is
"What you propose would be classified as an engineering operation. Unlike Building Regulations, there are no exemptions under the Planning Acts that permit nuclear shelters or similar structures to be constructed. As a result, planning permission would be required. Whether such a proposal would be likely to be granted planning permission would depend upon an assessment of its impact on the character of the surrounding area and neighbours' amenities."

 

[clifford1]

Whether such a proposal would be likely to be granted planning permission would depend upon an assessment of its impact on the character of the surrounding area and neighbours' amenities."

Ah, that would explain why there was such a long phoney war in 1939 before WWII got properly under way. There was a long queue of planning applications for air raid shelters while they assessed their local impact .

 

[gasgas]

This reminds me of when I worked in a Research and Development department of a computer company. We had to make keyboards, CPUs and screens that would continue to work in a heavy radiation fallout environment. We succeeded in this, but it did make me wonder that as humans couldn't survive in this atmosphere, who on earth would be using it? If it didnt work, would the MOD want their money back?