Recent content by spongobongo

One of the basic premises of the planning system is that anyone can apply for planning permission for anything they want, provided they serve the correct legal notices on the freeholder of the land and anyone with a leasehold interest with seven or more years remaining on their term. The...

Cheers Kevin, I suspected as much. As for using hydrated lime, I was under the impression that hydraulic and hydrated are not the same.

The Council is not obliged to notify neighbours about applications for lawful development certificates. However, when dealing with applications to establish whether existing uses or works are lawful by virtue of the ten and four year rules, it's sometimes useful to ask the neighbours if they...

Hello folks, I planning to make a lime mortar for some brickwork in a fireplace using hydraulic lime NHL3.5. Now I now that when using non-hydraulic lime you usually make a lime putty well in advance and then wait a few days before adding the sand. I just want to know whether the same applies...

You must have spoken to the planning team's monkey, not the organ grinder. The installation of downlights in a ceiling is a heritage matter that comes within the remit of the planning team. If the lights have been installed without listed building consent, then she's committed a criminal act. If...

The fundamental question is whether the use of render constitutes a material of "similar appearance to those used in the construction of the exterior of the existing dwellinghouse". Clearly, from the OP's first post, the use of render is an alien material. So, for the purpose of submitting an...

You're confusing sunlight and daylight, woody. A different kettle of fish entirely. More to the point, however, if you install windows on the side elevation of an extension, right on the boundary of your curtilage, planners will consider them to be 'bad neighbour windows' (often referred to...

If you live in Northern Ireland, you want to be looking at the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991. The definition of development in Section 55(3)(a) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is irrelevant, as it covers only England and Wales.

Come on, you're not seriously telling us that worms casts are damaging your mower blades! Worm casts are a fact of life at this time of year when the lawn surface is moist and the soil is still reasonably warm. The casts may look a bit scruffy but the worms are aerating the soil and actually...

BUMP The Planning Act is quite clear on this issue: where the ground slopes or is uneven you're entitled to take the highest ground level where the structure meets the ground. As your garden appears to slope away from your house, the highest ground level will be nearest the house. If that...

Google "Gummer's Law" and you'll get a pretty good idea of how difficult it is to get planning permission for a new house in the Green Belt. Unless you've got millions to spend and you plan to build a country mansion, you're flogging a dead horse.

As Damo says, it's a grey area, but I'd include one, even if it's only a basic pro forma downloaded from the council website. In my view, an HMO use is a type of residential use. D&A statements are only required for non-residential applications. However, applicants have become so used to...

Frank, I know you think the window issue is daft, but when you make an application for a lawful development certificate you're asking a basic question of the local authority: "Is what I've built, or about to build, within the parameters of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted...

Did your neighbour apply for a lawful development certificate and then build the dormer, or did he build it and then apply for the certificate? From what you've written previously, I assume it's the former. It's difficult to see definitely from the photos you've posted, but it seems to me that...

Not sure I follow you. Where are you quoting from when you refer to the front of the eaves? The 2008 Order doesn't make any mention of this. Basically, if you started building works after 1 October 2008, the link I gave you in my earlier post applies. Are you quite sure your neighbour's...