Planning Breach by the neighbour and the council allowed it

[compkeen]

I have had lot of problems with the council Planning department where I ended up dealing with whole of the planning department members including the senior planner , head of the department and the director of the planning , council members, Local MP . My local councillor stood by me since the last 1 year.
I will put a few bullet points so you get some idea in a nutshell bearing in mind that lot has happened before I got to an unsatisfactory end. Reigate and Banstead council needs to be exposed.

• 2013 – neighbour replaced the window without planning permission. I complained immediately. I was pushed by the senior planners to go to mediation, Citizens advice bureau and various legal bodies. Nothing came out of it. They insisted no law was broken and the neighbour is within his right.

• During the course of 3 years a lot of correspondence took place between the council and myself. The head of the planning insisted the matter came under general planning Development Order and kept dismissing me . I took the advice from a planning consultant and Royal Institute of the Town planning . Both of them concluded that a planning breach has taken place and the council should enforce the window to be replaced with non-opening, glazed ,frosted glass. The opening should be ONLY fanlight opening 1.7 meter above the floor on the neighbour's landing .

• Finally in the end the head of the planning admitted that he got confused and did not interpret the law correctly and apologised.

• The neighbour refused to change the window and the council refuses to enforce the replacement despite the planning breach. The neighbour says he was misguided by the council.

• Meanwhile his window being in the upper elevation of his property, facing my property which is only 3 meters away, and he can look into throughout of my accommodation. There is no privacy in the bedrooms, kitchen, all the living areas , garden, driveway.

• I have been living behind closed curtains , with no privacy anywhere, no light, and spending time at work from 7.30am to 11pm until the neighbours have gone to bed every day. This is obviously is affecting my health, my work, and my mental health. The impact is huge.

• Finally the council, after persuasion by me , offered to pay for the replacement of the window but the neighbour disputed and demanded the council pay for all the decorating , that would be disturbed and the whole hall way and the landing.

• The council decided that the damage to the neighbour’s decoration was more important and as a result his suffering was more serious at my cost and decided to withdraw the offer.

• The head of the planning in the council manipulated the issue by holding a private committee meeting between the councillors and the planning committee members. The planning committee was briefed what to say by him. This way they closed the doors on me and my own local councillor , who was ignored and public was not allowed to listen. There was no planning appeal or any enforcement notice ,thus blocking me to go to any institution with my plea.

• The council chose to action the option which was to tell the neighbour to put restrictors which can be moved or taken out and put opaque film on the window panes. Due to the restrictors, a wide gap would be created in the whole length of the middle of the window . Again I was dismissed when I objected saying that this is absolutely unworkable option because the neighbour can still overlook ‘head on’ into my whole property.

• The council has locked the door on me , thus stopping me going to any institution for complain. I despair that I have to spend rest of my days in my own home overlooked with closed curtains and no light. All my human rights are taken away by the Council. If the head of the planning cannot understand the law or understand how to uphold the law, and mitigate the consequences as a result of it, who can we trust in this borough and where can we go.

I think people have been building you up, it isn’t a serious planning breach. Somebody has replaced a window with a slightly different one. They haven’t secretly built a house, ripped out listed features etc… As planning breaches go it is incredibly minor although it may not feel it to you.

Too much time has passed and the council cannot take enforcement action anymore. Section 157(4) of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 gives councils seven years to take enforcement action or they become statue barred.

@compkeen

Can you share a diagram of the situation to make it easier for people to understand?

I don’t understand why this issue seems to be causing you so much distress. I really can’t.

[quote Offmyfence]@KatieB55 just how much have you spent on this?

Your neighbour is surely not stamina at his upstairs window every day looking at you!? You're out the majority of the day anyway? [/quote]
I've realised I've tagged the wrong person! @compkeen should've been tagged!

have you tried to fit blinds that can be angled to allow light in but restrict onlookers.
or the one-way film over your windows.
sorry that you are having all this stress.
i think you have to let the planning dispute go.
it will eat you up.
i'm not making any comment on the rights and wrongs of it;
obviously you know far more about it.
but just as a pragmatic approach, for the sake of your health, turn your attention to trying methods to lessen the annoyance.
be creative. perhaps you could get reflective film that showed an image of a giant person, looking out with binoculars.
or have a few friends round and a noisy jazz session in the garden.
imagine you were someone else. what would you advise them.
you have to break the spell all this has cast over you. life is to be lived.
try to take care. good luck.

I'm another that thinks that you need to get a grip.

I am sure there will be more to your story. I suspect that this not the only problem you have had with your neighbours or they with you because this sounds like it could have been easily resolved but you have wound each other up so much that neither wants to back down. There is more to this as your story doesn't quite ring true. What are you not telling us?

I have dealt with planning departments a number of times. I have found them to be at the best bureaucratic and at the worst incompetent. I have awful neighbours on one side that are abusive and constantly put in complaints about the most spurious things. They don't like change. I try to appease but I have given up now.

You sound like my petty neighbours. Yes, it does sound like the window your neighbour changed was not correct but not having obscured glass and being opening is a small infraction that you have blown totally out of proportion. The council deeming this minor and not enforcing means that it isn't worth time and money spent fighting it. You need to listen to them. You have means to make your situation better yet you refuse to do this. Putting up curtains or privacy film would solve your problem. Instead you martyr yourself and make yourself ill. You need to accept that the window is not going to change and it is you that will need to change. Or move house.

Some posters have suggested that you would need to declare a neighbour dispute if you sold. I don't think you would. You would need to answer any questions honestly but there is (objectively) no ongoing dispute.

You have objected to the change of window. That's all. Any buyer can see the window for themselves and decide if they mind for themselves (don't plant tge idea it is a bad thing for them).

E.g. the question "Have you contacted the Council about a dispute...." You could (honestly) answer "I objected to a change of window on planning grounds - my objection was not upheld" that's it - done - so don't let this aspect worry you. If the question is "are there any ongoing disputes" then I think "no" is the answer as this seems to be over with nothing more you can do.