To think my neighbour can drill a whole in my house to permanently hang a 15ft tarpaulin?

[Euro21widow]

So, name changed as obviously outting as pretty sure this isn't a normal occurance!

My neighbour has drilled a hole in my (grade 2 listed) building so she can permanently hang a piece of tarpaulin about 15ft up (as high as my 1st floor roof) for "privacy". Surely she can't just do this? Where do I go from here? It blocks all the light out to my ground floor windows now. Have included (bad) diagram.

Over invested here, have you a tualy knocked on her door and said take your sail off our wall please

Councillor worked for me, I couldn't get any sense about a noise situation then he chased for me & lots of help.

As someone who used to work for the council (although not in planning) I can confirm if councillors start taking an interest, that the officers usually bump the issue up the priority list.

@purpletoadstool

Over invested here, have you a tualy knocked on her door and said take your sail off our wall please

Over invested but didn't read the OPs updates

Hope your house hasn't set sail 😱

@Euro21widow Just had a thought, it's been windy and one of your early posts on the thread you wrote, "it isn't permanent (she says she will remove it when windy)"

It was windy and she didn't. Definitely video it in the wind!

You're clearly in the right and the Planning Officer should sort her out. Remember, though (1) she's mad as a box of frogs and (2) she's still your neighbour and the last thing you want is a feud. Keep to the moral high ground, don't lose your temper and be Mrs Reasonable. Good luck and keep us posted.

It was fairly windy yesterday @RiverTamFan and she didnt remove it. No other update, basically impossible to get hold of anyone due to covid! Just get auto replies. I will update when anything happens.

I am gobsmacked that you can't get hold of anyone at the Council's planning department/ listed building advice. I rang to ask advice about planning application on a listed building near me and got through straight away. That was just after Easter. Maybe your Councillor could investigate that as well . The non response is poor.

@Euro21widow

It was fairly windy yesterday *@RiverTamFan* and she didnt remove it. No other update, basically impossible to get hold of anyone due to covid! Just get auto replies. I will update when anything happens.

Time for your local MP

PARISH COUNCIL!

@Yesitsbess

PARISH COUNCIL!

It's nothing to do with the Parish Council. It's a planning matter and needs to be dealt with by the District Council if the OP lives in a tiered authority, or by the Unitary Council if she lives in a unitary authority.

I can't believe there's no response yet when it's a listed building! That's shocking......

@EmmaGrundyForPM

I know, but my OH is on a parish council and they love stuff like this, they can also be quite useful. And things aren't happening fast enough for me

Our planning team is currently over 3 months late with every planning thing so I can quite believe the OP has had no response yet.

@EmmaGrundyForPM

Oh come on. Parish Councils live for this stuff, and they always know someone in the planning department. They can kick up a good stink about stuff and get it attention. Sometimes, it's all about who you know.

@Librariesmakeshhhhappen right? Ours turn up at random properties who are requesting planning - in a minibus en masse. They are hilarious. And they get shizz done.

PP's suggestion of involving the HSE is a good one. Years ago we had dodgy roofers (obviously didn't know they were dodgy when we hired them). Unbeknown to us they were simply chucking things off the roof into our neighbours garden. We were away for the day and neighbours in desperation (and rightly so) called HSE who were round within the hour and shut the whole operation down. They move quickly!

Parish Councils only exist in more rural areas. The more urban areas do not have equivalent bodies.

@Seeline

Parish Councils only exist in more rural areas. The more urban areas do not have equivalent bodies.

I've lived in big cities with local community councils for many areas.

@Seeline

Parish Councils only exist in more rural areas. The more urban areas do not have equivalent bodies.

In my town we have a Civic Society and they would be very interested in a tarp attached to a listed building (they have close links with the planning department).

@Euro21widow

It was fairly windy yesterday *@RiverTamFan* and she didnt remove it. No other update, basically impossible to get hold of anyone due to covid! Just get auto replies. I will update when anything happens.

Find out who your local Council MP is, there is usually an area MP, then a Town Council MP.

Where we are, emailing the local Town Council MP, or messaging him on FB tends to get us a more immediate response to stuff if we're looking for help.. so does FB messaging the town councils own FB page!

[quote Yesitsbess]@EmmaGrundyForPM

I know, but my OH is on a parish council and they love stuff like this, they can also be quite useful. And things aren't happening fast enough for me[/quote]
I was going to say the same thing - our parish council would absolutely love to get involved in this sort of thing.

If you're in a village you will have a Parish Council, in a town you have a Town Council.
Councillors are elected or co-opted to these and like to get issues resolved.

Then you may have a District Council and a County Council unless you live in a Unitary Authority.

Get them involved. My Parish Council have named people to talk to in planning.

You don't have Town Council's in all urban areas. Civic societies etc don't have the same statutory powers as Parish Councils. Yes, they may talk to the Planners, but they don't have the same set up defined in law.