Advice on objecting to planning permission

[SkinnyMirror]

There is a small bit of land next to our house which currently has derelict garages on it and has been used as a dumping ground by the owners- they're farmers and own lots of land locally but refer to this bit as 'the tip' which is nice 🙄

We've just discovered that they've submitted a planning application to build a 3 story house on the land. This house will be around 50 metres from our property and will block the only two windows we have on that side of the house - these windows are landing windows so they're claiming there will be no loss of amenities but they actually let in a significant amount of light and if these are blocked our house will be in perpetual darkness!

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to approach the objection?

I'm pretty sure we can object due to the fact we live in a conservation area and the house plans aren't in keeping with the area and it's also green belt.

Can we object to the loss of light and privacy even though the windows aren't room windows?

It would mean we lose our amazing view but as i understand, that isn't grounds for objection.

They've lied on the planning application about the current use of the land the land surrounding it - they've claimed that us and our neighbours use it for parking and their plans will improve this and make it safer . However, they've never let us park there. We have access rights and have occasionally had trades people park there so they can access the houses and they always tell them to move! Is this worth mentioning?

They're not very nice people so we need to be careful about how we approach this! Any advice would be greatly received!

I recommend you contact the Bat Conservation Trust.

If your gable end where your bat roost is faces the place where they're planning on building, it is going to cause issues I'd think

www.gov.uk/guidance/bats-protection-surveys-and-licences

Dont forget about the bats! Are there are local organizations or experts you can contact to supply evidence on the likely impact on the bats of the building work itself?

sorry @Clymene cross posted - those bats could be an important consideration.

You need to have a look at planning policies for your local area and check the national planning framework document. Generally the separation between dwellings is advised to be a minimum of 21m. You also need to complain about the road safety angle - is the road on a bend, is there a record of any accidents, does it have a fast speed limit, is it narrower than the guidelines suggest an access road should be? Is there a flood risk that this house would make worse?

Sustainability is also something you should mention. Nowadays any housing development has to be sustainable - measure the distance to the nearest bus stop and the frequency of buses. Are there any cycle lanes, are the roads safe for cyclists? You can object if future occupiers would be forced to over-rely on private vehicles because there is insufficient public transport or it’s unsafe to cycle (this is contrary to sections 2 and 9 of the national planning framework). Also would future occupiers have poor access to shops, jobs, education and other services because these aren’t nearby? How far away are schools, doctors, shops etc? Are they already over subscribed? Would people be forced to use cars to drive there?

The other key thing you could mention is if there are a lot of houses along the road and this land is a “green space” that breaks up the houses. You could say that building on this site would contribute to ribbon development, which is undesirable. The loss of a green area in a prominent location would adversely affect the character and setting of the existing houses.

Do you prefer living next to a dump than a new build house. Strange.

Years ago we had a successful appeal with the help of these people. They advised us for free what grounds we could object on.

www.rtpi.org.uk/planning-advice/about-planning-aid-england/what-we-offer/

Light wasn't one of them, nor outlook or view. It was things like over development, pinning in, setting a precedent I think.

Right to light. Completely separate from planning law and any window, including a landing window, may benefit. Speak to a specialist right to light surveyor.

@SprayedWithDettol

You need to ensure your objections all refer back to how they breech planning regulations. This is the only way you can have any possible way to have impact when you object.

Thank you. We’ve started our response based around this.

[quote Clymene]I recommend you contact the Bat Conservation Trust.

If your gable end where your bat roost is faces the place where they're planning on building, it is going to cause issues I'd think

www.gov.uk/guidance/bats-protection-surveys-and-licences[/quote]
Thank you. This is exactly where the bats roost. They forage on the proposed site. The planned talk about removing a tree which is right where the bats fly at night.

@memberofthewedding

Dont forget about the bats! Are there are local organizations or experts you can contact to supply evidence on the likely impact on the bats of the building work itself?

Thank you! We’re going to get in touch with some experts tomorrow.

@Blueleah

You need to have a look at planning policies for your local area and check the national planning framework document. Generally the separation between dwellings is advised to be a minimum of 21m. You also need to complain about the road safety angle - is the road on a bend, is there a record of any accidents, does it have a fast speed limit, is it narrower than the guidelines suggest an access road should be? Is there a flood risk that this house would make worse?

Sustainability is also something you should mention. Nowadays any housing development has to be sustainable - measure the distance to the nearest bus stop and the frequency of buses. Are there any cycle lanes, are the roads safe for cyclists? You can object if future occupiers would be forced to over-rely on private vehicles because there is insufficient public transport or it’s unsafe to cycle (this is contrary to sections 2 and 9 of the national planning framework). Also would future occupiers have poor access to shops, jobs, education and other services because these aren’t nearby? How far away are schools, doctors, shops etc? Are they already over subscribed? Would people be forced to use cars to drive there?

The other key thing you could mention is if there are a lot of houses along the road and this land is a “green space” that breaks up the houses. You could say that building on this site would contribute to ribbon development, which is undesirable. The loss of a green area in a prominent location would adversely affect the character and setting of the existing houses.

These are all brilliant points. Thank you. I’ve made a note of them and will discuss with out neighbours tomorrow!

@sst1234

Do you prefer living next to a dump than a new build house. Strange.

But it shouldn’t be either/or though. No, we don’t like living next to asbestos garages but that doesn’t mean we’d prefer a 3 story house less than 5m from our house which blocks our main source of light and completely obscures our amazing view. Not to mention the impact on wildlife and losing parking spaces which are scarce already and loss of privacy.

@Mscarna

Years ago we had a successful appeal with the help of these people. They advised us for free what grounds we could object on.

www.rtpi.org.uk/planning-advice/about-planning-aid-england/what-we-offer/

Light wasn't one of them, nor outlook or view. It was things like over development, pinning in, setting a precedent I think.

Thank you. This is great.

@MotherHeyho

Right to light. Completely separate from planning law and any window, including a landing window, may benefit. Speak to a specialist right to light surveyor.

It’s on my list. I know we don’t have an automatic right to light but this proposed development would have a significant impact on how much light we get…. The layout of our house is quite strange and the two windows in question are really key to not living in perpetual darkness.

If you consider the cost of moving it may be worth employing someone to word your reply with the respective bits of planning legislation.

One thing I'd recommend OP is looking at your local council planning online system.

It's worth looking at a number of applications to see which were approved and which denied and the reasons why.

It's will absolutely help you to frame your response and get a good understanding of relevant info from a planning perspective.

Whilst it's tempting to just look at those denied, those approved can be just as useful because not all applications are passed based on the original proposal.

It's good to see a process where planning has ultimately been granted but has had to undergo various revisions to the design and what those were and why.

Yes it's time and effort but worth it.

Two other suggestions.

Don't be afraid to ring your local planning dept. In my experience they have been extremely helpful.

Obviously they can't tell you if planning will be approved or not as that is done by the Council Planning committee but what they can tell you is what their recommendations to the council are likely to be and any concerns they have wrt how the application may be at odds with local planning guidance. You should be able to find who the case officer is from the online planning system.

Finally don't underestimate your local parish council. They will be asked to comment on any new applications.

Precisely because they are local they have a perspective the planning dept does not.

That doesn't mean an objection from them will have additional weight and they still have to respond on the basis of what's "allowed" but they can make statements for example to confirm/deny how the land is currently being used and the accuracy of application in that regard. It thus worth finding out who is responsible for planning on the parish council and ask if they are going to do a site visit and if so would they be willing to speak to you.

Take lots of pictures would be my other tip. It's hard for committee members to envisage the impact without them.

@MoreHairyThanScary

If you consider the cost of moving it may be worth employing someone to word your reply with the respective bits of planning legislation.

Great advice!

@DeRigueurMortis

One thing I'd recommend OP is looking at your local council planning online system.

It's worth looking at a number of applications to see which were approved and which denied and the reasons why.

It's will absolutely help you to frame your response and get a good understanding of relevant info from a planning perspective.

Whilst it's tempting to just look at those denied, those approved can be just as useful because not all applications are passed based on the original proposal.

It's good to see a process where planning has ultimately been granted but has had to undergo various revisions to the design and what those were and why.

Yes it's time and effort but worth it.

Two other suggestions.

Don't be afraid to ring your local planning dept. In my experience they have been extremely helpful.

Obviously they can't tell you if planning will be approved or not as that is done by the Council Planning committee but what they can tell you is what their recommendations to the council are likely to be and any concerns they have wrt how the application may be at odds with local planning guidance. You should be able to find who the case officer is from the online planning system.

Finally don't underestimate your local parish council. They will be asked to comment on any new applications.

Precisely because they are local they have a perspective the planning dept does not.

That doesn't mean an objection from them will have additional weight and they still have to respond on the basis of what's "allowed" but they can make statements for example to confirm/deny how the land is currently being used and the accuracy of application in that regard. It thus worth finding out who is responsible for planning on the parish council and ask if they are going to do a site visit and if so would they be willing to speak to you.

Thank you! DH has been in touch with our local councillor today - they know each other and he's offered some great advice off the record.

@Mscarna

Take lots of pictures would be my other tip. It's hard for committee members to envisage the impact without them.

That's our plan! We've got some great pictures of deer visiting the site!

Thank you!
DH has been in touch with our local councillor today - they know each other and he's offered some great advice off the record.

--

That's great news.

One other thing is to speak to neighbours and anyone else impacted by the development.

Not everyone will be as invested/impacted as you are and thus not willing to put in the same effort.

What I did was to post letters (by hand) to make sure they were aware of the application, how to object and the relevant items to object to.

I didn't give them a "script" because it needs to be individual, but did say X grounds won't count but Y ones will.

Essentially I wanted to make them realise it was easy to object (10 mins online) and make sure their objection counted.

20 objections count for nothing if it's just "I don't like it". 5 objections citing legitimate reasons count for a lot.

Good luck.

Are other houses neighbouring 3 storey? Usually local authorities like a development in keeping with the street scene etc. I don’t think you will have much luck objecting on grounds of light. But you are entitled to object. As planning is a public record, your objection can be viewed by the applicant and anyone else who wishes to do so.

@DeRigueurMortis

*Thank you! DH has been in touch with our local councillor today - they know each other and he's offered some great advice off the record.*

--

That's great news.

One other thing is to speak to neighbours and anyone else impacted by the development.

Not everyone will be as invested/impacted as you are and thus not willing to put in the same effort.

What I did was to post letters (by hand) to make sure they were aware of the application, how to object and the relevant items to object to.

I didn't give them a "script" because it needs to be individual, but did say X grounds won't count but Y ones will.

Essentially I wanted to make them realise it was easy to object (10 mins online) and make sure their objection counted.

20 objections count for nothing if it's just "I don't like it". 5 objections citing legitimate reasons count for a lot.

Good luck.

We're on excellent terms with our neighbours who all plan to object too. We're meeting tomorrow to discuss it.

Although it doesn't impact them as much they understand our issues and are fully supportive of our position.

The bats are definitely a big issue.

It might be worth trying to get pictures of them if you can and contacting a group such as this to help you www.bats.org.uk/

If you can prove the last point because the built is so close to your house (is that the side with the gable end with the bats?) then you'd actually be pretty home and dry on getting a refusal and you might be able to argue the building works would disturb the roost as well.

Excerpt:

In Britain all bat species and their roosts are legally protected, by both domestic and international legislation.
This means you may be committing a criminal offence if you:

	Deliberately take , injure or kill a wild bat

	Intentionally or recklessly disturb a bat in its roost or deliberately disturb a group of bats.

	Damage or destroy a place used by bats for breeding or resting (roosts) (even if bats are not occupying the roost at the time)

	Possess or advertise/sell/exchange a bat of a species found in the wild in the EU (dead or alive) or any part of a bat.

	Intentionally or recklessly obstruct access to a bat roost.

Oops!

Sorry I see other posters have already covered this ☺️