Wednesday, 1 October 2008

On planning

My silence regarding our objections regarding the adjacent development has been for a very good reason. We lost our objection and the Perth & Kinross Council Development Control Committee, despite the brave efforts of Councillors Lorraine Cadell and Sandy Miller, voted to approve both planning applications. I don't want to indulge myself in a potentially actionable outburst so will limit my comments to the fact that they approved the construction of a wall, which is unfit for purpose, on our property, and the potential intrusion onto our property by the developer. They approved houses which are 1.99 metres higher than in the original plans and this will cause potential flood problems for 6 other houses in the village. They approved the breaching of the council's own policy that there should be 9 metres between buildings - the closest part of next door is 7.5 metres from our gable end.

We are not taking this lying down and are taking legal advice. There shall also be a complaint lodged with the Scottish equivalent of the Local Government Ombudsman and there are other avenues which we shall pursue.

One of my friends advised me that a "quirk" of Scottish Planning Law is that you don't have to own the property that you're applying for planning permission on. This is a "quirk" that really needs to be changed as it gives unreasonable developers the excuse to infringe onto property which they don't own and then claim the defence that they were only doing it to meet their planning permission. Far fetched you think? Come to Carnbo and live with the reality.
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1 comment:

Matt Wardman said...

The English position is this, and may have some comparisons:

AIUI, there's nothing illegal in the ACT of getting planning permission to build on property that you do not own - that is a provision so that (e.g.,) developers can apply for permission before committing to buying land, which is a reasonable use.

But - having had a wall actually *built* on my property by a neighbour illegally and the Council being utterly useless and behaving like Pontius Pilate, you are likely to be on your own for enforcement of your rights.

If there is a sale going on then if you have made your objections to your neighbour in writing they may have *have* to tell the purchaser (write to the Estate Agent to scare them). That is the case in England.

A solicitors letter early may be worth it's weight.

Otherwise it is likely to be down to Appeals, practical denial of access (prevent any scaffolding on your land by taking it down, which will stop work) and injunctions.

Rgds

3 October 2008 at 05:22

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