All posts in the topic Planning applications in Headington (Short link)
Summary
- There are 6 posts — by 4 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Chris Brewer at Nov 23 15:02 UTC
Along with many other representatives from residents' associations who happen
to be on this forum, I attended a three-hour planning workshop at All Saints
Church House in New High Street yesterday. Nicholas will be pleased to hear
that two council officers also gave up their Saturday morning, namely Niko
Grigoropoulos (whose new title is “Development Performance Manager”) and Murray
Hancock.
I learnt something about the enforcement procedure that surprised me (and
others present) very much. I always thought that it was the planning
department’s responsibility to keep an eye on developments and enforce any
conditions. But in fact it isn’t, and they will only react if they receive a
complaint from us.
The moral of this is to let the planning department know immediately if
something is wrong, because "unauthorised works become lawful after 4 years".
(The Powerpoint slide actually said "unauthorised woks" -- a bit of a Freudian
slip in Headington, I think....)
you are actually right stephanie it is indeed the planning department's
responsibility, or at least it should be, but from what you describe stephanie
it sounds to me like what I would call abdication of responsibility and pass
the buck more like. But yes I am pleased to hear that officials are giving up
their weekends for meetings with residents, that's good news, how can it be
right for unauthorised works to become legal? I find that idea utterly
outrageous, I thought unauthorised works had to be demolished. Anyone planning
to build something, or who is planning on carrying out major structural
alterations are supposed to notify the planning department, and then it is
supposed to be up to the planning department to issue letters to nearby
residents asking if there are any objections.
It is actually an offense not to notify the planning department for which you
can be prosecuted in some, if not all cases. There can be appeals for
retrospective planning permission but this is not always granted in all cases.
The Planning Department are indeed supposed to enforce planning conditions. if
ever in doubt tell the authorities and get yourself the right bit of official
paperwork, it's best to stay the right side of the law.
But then I suppose also what the planning department doesn't get to know about
they can't do anything about, so if someone hasn't got planning permission it's
best for other residents to tip the authorities off.
By the way stephanie, just thought that I would draw it to your attention that
all the posts are dated one day to soon, today is the 23rd not the 24th,
tomorrow is the 24th of November in case you had not noticed. You seem to have
got one day out of step.
Nicholas, we have to live with planning law as it is, not how we would like it to be. It's not all as cut and dried as you might imagine: see for instance this page on enforcement: http://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/environment/planning/planning_enforcement/planning_enforcement_frequently_asked_questions.htm (That was just the first page I hit on with a Google search: there may be better ones.) I did not realize until yesterday that planning enforcement is a discretionary power, and that it is up to us to complain if we want anything rectified, or else put up with it. This is the case throughout England, and not an "abnegation of responsibility" by our city planners. The responsibility is ours, not theirs, so if you do not send in complaints about alleged breaches of planning control to the planners, then it is *you* who are abnegating your responsibility. I thought that other people might not realize this, thinking it was none of their business to report problems. If people in a neighbourhood say nothing for four years, it is surely reasonable to assume that they are happy with unauthorized works, so why should they not become legal? The important thing is that people should be made aware that just waiting for the council to "do something" is useless. The date of the posts is correct on my computer, and correct on the website. I think there is a problem at your end.
Here's a good example of a concerned local citizen helping out with planning enforcement - by sending a map with 'House in Barn' marked on it! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7716793.stm