Planning granted but questions remain

[Footsoldier888]

This relates to my previous house so not the one in the other thread.

The application was from next door for a two storey side extension over an existing garage, very slightly wider and longer than the original, with a gap of about 20-25 cm between their front edge and the boundary line on the plans.

In the delegated report it said 'a small space is to be retained between the host and No XX'. However the boundary submitted on the plans was not the measured boundary, it was an extrapolation from the boundary post at the back of the houses to the OS grid reference at the tip of their driveway.

The boundary line was about 100 feet in total say, with three boundary posts, one at the rear and the final one about 50 feet from the highway end. Being a straight line boundary, if the original posts are in line then the line can be extended to the road.

So the extrapolation and the physical measurement of the boundary could be identical, but there again they might not. The point is I don't know how the council could make this claim about there being a small space when it wasn't factually certain.

Both side elevations were tapering slightly in a V shape that didn't quite meet, with the walls just over a metre apart at the front point.

So - they got permission to build 20cm inside the 'boundary'. But on the side elevation plan was a rainwater drainpipe at the front which wasn't on the front elevation. Looking from the front, if the drain is there too the 'small 20 cm space' left won't even be visible from the front anyway.

Anyone know if they will be able to site the drainpipe on the side even though it wasn't on the front elevation drawing plus would close off visually the 'small space' the council said was to be retained?

I know this reads like nit picking but the people next door declined my offer to have the boundary measured plus the omission of this drainpipe was clearly deliberate. And just a one metre setback would have preserved the space between the houses.

As it happened the house was sold between the application and decision. This was a few months ago and no building has started yet.

I know nothing can be done now but it seems strange to me the council claimed there was this 'small space' when infact there may not be one.

 

[cjard]

Ive read this twice and it doesn't really make any sense to me, sorry. Perhaps a picture would help, together with a summarising of the question. If the question is "there's a gap between my house a and house b that is 20cm wide. The plan says a downpipe should go on the front elevation, but I'd like to move it to the side to visually close the gap, can I?"

Then sure, it's highly unlikely that the council would notice or care, and not a difficult fix if you get into a fight about it. Put the gully pot on the corner of the building

 

[Footsoldier888]

Thanks for the reply and yes it was more of a rant than anything so I can understand you finding it a bit hard to make sense of.

In a nutshell it was this - the architect left the drainpipe off the front elevation plan so the council wouldn't notice. The council said there was a gap to be maintained between the houses in their delegated report but the drain will mean it's not really visible. But the drainpipe is on the side elevation plan so I was wondering what will happen.

It will lead to a terracing effect, but the council said it terracing was not a valid objection because the houses were on different building lines.

The houses opposite were on the same building line and when one extended a 1m separation line was insisted on.

I know all this must sound trivial but with the roofs only being 40cm apart it will make life difficult with gutters and the roof.

Yet a 1m setback would have maintained a gap plus looked a hell of a lot better.