Please help - neighbour issue

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Hi everyone,

I was wondering if you could give me some advice. A resident on my street has submitted a planning application to build a large extension on their home that is particularly ugly.

I would like to object via the council's website and am required to give my name and address. I understand from the website that personal details will be redacted when my comment is reproduced as part of the planning report.

However, I'm concerned that the neighbour who has submitted the application will be able to see that it's me who has commented. Will my name and address be available for them to see or is it viewed by the planning officers only?

Any advice you could give would be very gratefully received.

Is it a direct neighbour, so you'd be able to see the extension from inside your house?

On our council planning page, objections are listed on the application page and name according to the submitters first and second name. so yes, if your council does the same.

Do you have material objections to the extension? Or is it just that you don't like it?

An opinion on aesthetics isn’t going to change a planning officer’s decision. You need to look at your local planning regulations and put together a coherent argument against the proposed extension explaining how it falls short/violates the same.

I would ring the planning department at the council and ask, it’s different for every council.

Unless you live in a conservation area or something the fact that you think the extension is ugly isn't really grounds to complain - as far as I know it has to impact on you in some way (does it over look your property for example?). I objected to someone who wanted build a gym over the road because the parking on our residential street is already busy and dangerous and that was turned down.

Sigh , it really annoys me that people want to complain about planning permission . I've said it once and I'll say it again there are planning guidelines ie the building can't be too close to next door etc .
If you want to complain make sure you have grounds and it will impact you if not just relax .

Town planner and urban designer who works in a LPA.

Aesthetics and design are absolutely reasonable for refusal, but the ‘its Ugly’ and ‘I don’t like it’ are not valid objections. Why is is ugly? What is it about it that’s you don’t like? Does it fit in terms of scale and mass with the original building? Does the roof form, it’s height and materials respond positively to the original?

If it is to the rear and not visible from a public area design can be given less weight but shouldn’t be, of something is crap, it’s crap. The NPPF requires high quality design, the scale of the development (whether an extension or 100 homes) is irrelevant.

In terms of your name and address being visible, objections can not be confidential (is my understanding), but you can call the planning department and ask.

You have to state planning issues in your complaint, you can’t just say it’s ugly, you have to say things like it’s out of character with the street scene etc. But yes they can see your name and address (at least you can on our councils planning site).

Yes, your name will be available.

However, an if an ugly building was a reason not to develop there would be very few updated houses around here. It is not accepted as a reason to refuse planning.

A look on your council planning page should list the reasons you can object, and also consider flooding which might be caused if the extension is very large, trees needing to be removed/protected, wildlife that is protected, and any other relevant issues.

There are some hideous buildings about now, just as there were in the 1960's and 70's when those new ones were built. If you find older properties pleasing to the eye I understand your distaste but sadly no-one else will care.

My council publishes comments under a “public comments” tab online but you can’t see people’s names and addresses - only the comment. Will the neighbours see something different then (i.e. the name and address alongside the comment)?

The application already has 5 objections so I’m clearly not the only one!

Do you have a better reason to complain than 'it's ugly'?

My OP wasn’t about the ins and outs of the design (which I don’t want to go into here). I’m simply asking if the neighbour will be able to see my name and address or whether that information is kept anonymous. Thanks!

Surely it’s not a good idea for councils to share the full name and address of objectors in these circumstances - you don’t know what could happen if you got a particularly vindictive developer etc!

Yes, your name and address will be available along with the objection (with signatures and phone numbers redacted). Your objection may also appear online if the LPA has the system to do so.

Use a flase name. Your address will not show

Thanks. Other comments are available to view online but only the actual comment bit - no names or addresses. My concern is, even if the council anonymise the comments online, will they show full names and addresses to the applicant (my neighbour)?

flase=false !

Yes they will see your full name, address and read exactly what you wrote. They will be able to respond.
You can object for any reason but they will only consider objections that meet their criteria.
My neighbour had a lot of ridiculous reasons for objecting mine. The best one was “a second floor extension is not in keeping with the street” the councils response was “we reject this because x has a second floor extension themselves”
If you want to object then just check that your reasons are valid for consideration, they don’t consider all objections for any reason.
I’d tread carefully, mine got approved and we don’t speak anymore...which is bliss for me haha

We were given name and address with objections. Our neighbour complained about our en-suite application because she thought we were building a stand alone apartment. She hadn’t even read the application properly. I wish she had just knocked and had a chat about it. Her objection was obviously declined. The next time I saw her I mentioned the application was just for an en-suite, she was really embarrassed as she didn’t realise we saw her name against the comment.

Really @GynnotGym19 - even if the comments are anonymised online? Do they show a separate list of full names and addresses to the applicant?

@Millie2017 does your council publish names and addresses online as well? Or did they just show them to you personally as the applicant?

When you log into the portal for the planning application the full name, address and comments are viewable. My full response was published underneath it and the council views both sides.

I know some councils don’t even require you to enter your name and address when commenting (my previous council didn’t) so you can leave your feedback entirely anonymously.

You can definitely see names and village/town on our council's planning website.