Planning approved - need to make small changes

[andy_g]

Hello

We have applied and got planning approval for extending the detached double garage and putting a pitched roof over it.

However due to a miscommunication with the draftsman the roof height is slightly less than I would have liked and the roof ridge length is also shorter than I would have liked.

What is the recommended procedure for making alterations to existing plans? Suffice to say I called the council to ask for guidance and they told me to go to their website. Very unhelpful.

Many thanks
andy

 

[noseall]

A lot of people will be wondering why you are being so specific about roof height and ridge length.
Are you putting a room up there?

 

[andy_g]

Yes maybe , initially we want a vaulted ceiling, but in the future I might want to build a dormer window to make it into a maisonette. Lots of garages around us are built in exactly the same way with 2 dormer windows at the top. In my case I want to have the possibility of converting it in the future, but as it stands the roof ridge height and length would be too small and I would have to replace the whole roof.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Depends if your changes are what your council would call 'material amendments' or not- ie something that is very different in scale or aspect from what is on the approved plans. If it was 100mm height change then they'd probably not care, if it is 500mm then you might have to resubmit and wait the 8 weeks or so. Did the original application go to committee or was it passed under delegated powers- if delegated and your amendments really are minor then an email conversation with the planning officer who approved the plans will often work.

And your neighbouring garages, is your new proposal to make your garage the same height, roof pitch etc as them or will it look radically different?

 

[andy_g]

It was approved by a single person, it's just a garage conversion, considering they are building 5 million pound mansions around here, I am sure my garage falls well into the small fry category.

I called again today this time the person who answered was slightly more helpful, he said he would pass the message on and have the planner call me back. When I asked in general, what is the procedure, he declined to tell me.

Hoping they will call me soon so we sort it out.

Oh to answer the questions, I live on a "weird" street where the planners in the past have been draconian, forbidding any kind of development which is common place just off my street and everywhere else around here, calling upon the catch all "street scene" excuse on every single occasion. One house owner appealed and won, and has proceeded to build a gigantic garage, triple size, with a gigantic roof, larger than the dwellings around, and prominent from 3 directions. My garage in comparison is a dwarf and is not visible from almost anywhere but I was half-expecting it to be refused, the "street scene" again. When I go for walks around my house with my wife, we see those huge mansions and developments, and we see those 2.5 story garages on every single development, and I wonder, had I chosen any, but any other street to live on 20 years ago when we came to live in this area, I would be able to build whatever, but this one, unique, sole street where development is almost forbidden...

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Have you got the persons' name? If so you may do better with email. Have a look again at your district councils' website, or even at the original grant of permission- good odds his or her email address is on there. And then the starting point is tell them what you've told us- permission granted case ref blah blah for garage expansion, unfortunately bloke who did the drawings cocked up the roof, what we really wanted was blah blah. Attach amended drawings of your new proposal and see what happens

And your weird street, any councillors live there? Just a thought......

 

[andy_g]

I have just sent just an email, to the department, there was no direct email address for the planner on the documents I read.

You may be right about the councillors. I have long suspected there must be some connection and a reason why they allow 3 storey monoliths to be built in very prominent areas not 100 yards away from me, and then in my very small street is like time travel to the 1960s.

 

[Nakajo]

Around me, council email adresses are nearly always [email protected]

 

[jeds]

You still don't indicate the scale of your amendments. As mentioned above, if they are minor then you can apply for a 'non material' amendment. Any more than that and you'll have to reapply. Don't ask what the difference between material and non-material is because each situation is different. My advice is, rather than deal in dimensions, draw the existing and proposed elevations side by side and see what it looks like. If the difference looks immaterial then your in.

 

[andy_g]

I emailed the planners with draft sketches and had a reply that I need to make a non material appication, which I made today, online, through the planning portal. The new size of the roof is larger and they may ask me for a full application, but it is worth trying, as all other dimensions remain the same. Here's hoping!