Planning Appeal

[scotsweston]

Hi I am considering a planning application appeal after it was refused, and wondered if anyone had any advice. It was refused on the following grounds.

1 The proposed development, due to the division of the land and layout of the new dwelling within the garden of xxxxxxxxxxxx, would result in a contrived residential layout that would harm the established built form and pattern of development in the area. The siting, design and stark exposed two-storey east flank wall of the new dwelling close to the xxxxxxxxx Road frontage would also result in a harmful visual impact on the street-scene and would be detrimental to the established character and appearance of the area.

2 The new dwelling, by reason of its two-storey scale and its siting in relation to the existing dwelling, would demonstrably harm the visual amenity of the occupiers of the existing dwelling, in particular from the rear of the dwelling and its rear garden.

Should i employ a solicitor to appeal or use my architect?

does anybody know any approximate costs of appeal?

Thanks very much for your help.

 

[tony1851]

A solicitor is the last person you should use; similarly your architect.

You need a planning consultant - fees c. £1k?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Err you would never use a solicitor, they are not an appropriate person to undertake a planning appeal. Your architect if he is worthy, a planning consultant or other competent person who undertakes appeals successfully would be more suitable.

I would be asking why it was refused, does the application meet Local planning Guidance, has the architect sought pre-planning advice, what has he done to try to negotiate with the planners throughout the process, why would a planning inspector pass it at appeal, questions questions, of course you may have already exhausted all of these and more aspects. If an application meets with local Plan Guidance it cannot be refused. These are all of the things whoever you employ will be asking.

That refusal statement kinda suggests to me that with some more work prior to the decision a successful application could have been achieved with some revisions though we do not know all the detail so difficult to comment further.

The costs can range from £500 to £10,000 or more. It depends who you employ and what is involved.

This is a good thread: //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=238992

 

[^woody^]

There are specialist planning appeal Solicitors (and Barristers) who should be at least if not more experienced than planning consultants.

It all depends on the what value you put on the success of any appeal.

Remember, you only get one chance at appeal, unless there is a point of law involved

 

[luisdesign]

You should look around your local area first to see if there are any planning consultants. Using a local firm is helpful because they would hopefully be more experienced with local issues and policies.

Before you decide whether you should make an appeal you should speak to a few consultants that you find in order to see how they gauge your chances.

Those reasons for refusal seem pretty damning but sound generally less a matter of missing quantitative policy and more a matter of not meeting qualitative policy. The difference is that qualitative policies are based on opinion and interpretation and so are more open to appeal. Its really difficult to say anything with any certainty though as we do not have the full facts or details.

But at the end of the day, no, you dont use solicitors - your architect may also be happy to do planning appeals, but may equally put you in touch with a more experienced expert in such cases.