To object to neighbour's planning proposal?

[hyperhypermum]

House next door has recently changed hands. New owners seem really nice and we're keen to get along with them. They have submitted plans to extend their house. The proposal is way outside the council's guidelines for rear extensions, i.e. nearly 6 metres bigger than what is normally allowed!!! Therefore, I'm 99% certain that the application will be refused so am tempted to say nothing in the interests of goodwill. However, DH wants to object as, if in the unlikely event permission is granted, we will be stuck staring at a monstrosity! Unfortunately, we cannot object anonymously as all comments are visible online.

I'm really not sure how to handle this without upsetting anyone!

you should object now thru the formal channels only

Our neighbours objected to our planning permission. It was still granted, after a lot of questioning and visits by the Council. We are still on speaking terms.

You need write a well written letter looking at the various criteria the planning people take into consideration. You should be able to get the policy from your local council website

Parish councils often comment on planning to support /object as well. Although they do not make the decisions, they can be useful to speak to IME.

Our neighbours objected to ours, but it still got permission because they weren't really objecting on any relevant grounds. They both died before we started the work. That wasn't our fault though.

Planning guidelines can be open to interpretation, and if someone has employed a good architect and planning consultant they will have done that with the aim of persuading the planners it's acceptable.

You should definitely object but you need to use valid planning reasons and refers to policy for objecting. Keep it factual. Whatever you do, don't say it will reduce the value of your property because planners don't give a fuck about that.

Don't worry about what the neighbours think. We objected to our neighbours plans to build a new structure within their boundary and they didn't get PP and we have been very good friends ever since.

It is also worth contacting the planning officer directly and asking them if they are minded to refuse it, or not - that may give you an indication (or may not).

If you are really worried that the officer will make the wrong decision (for you) you can contact your ward councillor and ask them to 'call-in' the application. The decision will them be made by elected councillors (planning committee) rather than one planning officer. Only do this if you think the officer is going to approve it.

The application should not be approved if it breaches local planning guidelines, but sometimes there are ways around this - e.g. architectural merit, sustainability, social need etc. So you can't depend on that.

And as PPS say, it may be worth you having an informal chat with the neighbour - they may be prepared to amend their design if you agree not to object. There is definitely scope for negotiation.

lol @ Over&Above

You need write a well written letter looking at the various criteria the planning people take into consideration.

^This. A letter of objection that just says "we don't wish to look at a hideous eyesore" or similar isn't considered proper grounds.

No-one at the Council cares about your view or most other quality of life issues (including all the disruption during construction) - you need to find out what could be valid grounds to object - and then stick to those.

I objected to my neighbours pp about 12 years ago and they have blanked me ever since! Well until last month when he knocked to ask for 300 quid towards him replacing his fence....cheeky fecker.

I initially spoke to my local councillor who happened by chance to live round the corner and knew my road well, I explained what they were asking for and she said oh no that's plain silly and ensured it was passed to the committee. I sent in a letter with my objections, was invited to the committee meeting to put forward my concerns (neighbour didn't show up to this). They then sent out a team to look at neighbours house from my property to get the gist of it all and then granted them pp for a much smaller build which I assume wasn't worth their while as they never did it!

Good relations with neighbours is worth its weight in gold but not at any price!

We objected to a planning application made by our next door neighbour. The objection was made in writing to the planning department, rather than on line. As ar as I'm aware, any comments and objections are made in confidence. You may have to give your name and address when you make an online objection, but I don't think that information is public knowledge. We went to the lengths of visiting the planning office in,person to appeal to the planning officer concerned and she assured us that, whilst our neighbour would know there had been comments/objections, they would not know from whom to protect your identity. I'd call them to discuss and definitely object.

There are only a limited number of issues upon which you can object though, so it just being big might not have a lot of sway in your objection. It's a tough one and I feel for you. I'm not normally an emotional type, but our visit to the planning office resulted in me having a total (and very public!) meltdown. These things can get very fraught. Good luck OP.

We had this last year, and in Scotland at least your objections are there on the council website for all to see. We were three houses in a rural area, two of the house owners objected to the third one's pp which went against the council's own information. He got pp (friends in high places).

I think I'd go and talk to them nicely about it, AFTER you have looked up what would be legitimate objection grounds..

Then explain nicely, how that would affect you and how you think its likely to be refused as it is outside the guidelines and of course you wouldn't want them to cough up the money to apply.. and lose it when its rejected!

And then object, along those relevant legit grounds for objection.

To many people piss about getting aeriated and annoyed about things that are not legitimate reasons for objection, usually jealousy that they can't afford it, or desire not to live next to ongoing building work etc.

Talk to the planning department, they will be helpful and will give you their perspective. They may even give you the language and terms you need to object to it.

Object. That's your garden they want to overlook and make useless. Object, that's what the planning process is for.

It shows very clearly on the planning portal exactly who has commented (for and against) and their address.

It is not anonymous.

I think the 3.6 m refers to permitted development (ie not needing planning permission)
If it is single storey and they have a large garden it might well get passed

We had lovely neighbours and we had to object. Their extension would impact on sun in kitchen.
We got the changes made.
We are still friends. You have to think of yourselves. They did say they wished they had talked to us before

We bought a house that was falling down and put in plans for an extension. The neighbours objected on pretty spurious grounds, but before we realised my DH went over and talked them through the plans. They were relieved and withdrew two of their three objections.

The council then did a cut and paste job turning us down on the reasons that the neighbours cited. However, we went to apppeal and got it through anyway.

We were on pretty good terms with the neighbours throughout. I think that they didn't really want us to do an extension at all (who would, really). They've since moved but it was very amicable.

The other thing to remember is that building work is not just for you, but for the people who come after you. You should give it your best shot.

So def object. Time to stand up. As long as you are open about it, it should be fine.

Objections to planning applications are not anonymous. The process has to be transparent.

I agree that it sounds like 3.6m is what's allowed under permitted development rights rather than a guideline for what might be passed by planners using their delegated powers or by a planning committee.

Oh, and we did a big extension at the back of our house. Every one of our 8 neighbours objected (some reasonably, some outrageously). It was passed under delegated powers and is now built. We all still talk (bar one complete wanker who always was and always will be a bellend) and get on fine. We took the objections on the chin and they took the permission being granted on the chin. That's what most reasonable grown ups do, I guess.

Objected and objected and the planners agreed but the bastards built it - and planners did fuck all about it.

Whether or not your objections appear online depends on the planning authority. Most put them online, even if sent in by post, and won't blank out the name & address unless you specifically ask them to remain anonymous.
Some LAs don't have the technology to do this. However the process is supposed to be transparent so they will make everything in the file available to be viewed if anyone wants to at the planning office.
Objections made anonymously won't be valid.

Thanks all. We now have a meeting with a planning officer so will see what they advise and take it from there.