The Planners TV documentary

[rjm2k]

I haven't seen this mentioned before and stumbled on episode 3 last night so I thought I'd post a link for those interested, anyone been watching it?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01qrt24/The_Planners_Episode_3/

Last night we had a miserable git who's neighbour naively replaced a 2m hedge with a 1m picket fence on 1 side of his front garden only to find his neighbour objecting to the loss of open plan (which it wasn't with 2m of hedge) and the loss of being able to see flower arrangements and garden gnome arrangements. They got to keep their fence.

Also, a couple applying for the 3rd time to build 31 houses on brownfield 1 mile out of a village, who were lumped in with developers wanting to build 300 houses in the village on greenfield, common sense came through!

A guy who built a huge metal "shed" to keep his life size tonka toys under.

Oh and the Mosque extension in rochdale which went against just about every planning principle known to man (3 parking spaces instead of 150), was recommended to be refused by the case officer, went to committee (headed by 2 people with what you might call a vested interest) and got pushed through!

 

[TheVictorian]

I watched it last night for the first time as well, the old chap who objected to the picket fence seriously needs to get a grip!

The extension to the mosque/old pub although it looked pretty terrible was on a pretty grotty industrial estate and I can understand why it went through.

 

[rjm2k]

I watched it last night for the first time as well, the old chap who objected to the picket fence seriously needs to get a grip!

I think making the planning guy sit on that strange karma sutra type sofa with him was the final nail in that coffin! At least they bought a gnome for him in good neighbourly spirit. On a more serious side it was interesting to see the planning guy saying if they refused, there was no way the guy would lose any appeal he made so they were wasting their time!

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Oh My God, stop the press, hold the horses, a government system doesn't work very well. I doooooooooooooon't believe it!

FFS!

 

[Diyisfun]

rjm2k..the point the planning officer was making was that the building could at a later date be used for something else, with no car parking.
When you look at who was voting for it to be passed we wernt surprised it got passed. wink wink

 

[luisdesign]

Oh and the Mosque extension in rochdale which went against just about every planning principle known to man (3 parking spaces instead of 150), was recommended to be refused by the case officer, went to committee (headed by 2 people with what you might call a vested interest) and got pushed through!

Read more: //www.diynot.com/forums/buildi...-tv-documentary.355262/#2677658#ixzz2KxmcyGOp

Perhaps the most shocking item in all 3 programs if you ask me. But unfortunately not uncommon.

 

[rjm2k]

Perhaps the most shocking item in all 3 programs if you ask me. But unfortunately not uncommon.

The most shocking to me is the old couple allowed to install solar panels inside Chester city wall, I really didn't understand why they wanted them so much. If the environment is so important to them, they could rest assured that these eyesores are being installed everywhere else anyway, so that bit of history shouldn't have been defaced.

There was another program on the other day, where the applicant apparently HAD to include PV cells in order to meet new building regs?

 

[luisdesign]

The most shocking to me is the old couple allowed to install solar panels inside Chester city wall, I really didn't understand why they wanted them so much. If the environment is so important to them, they could rest assured that these eyesores are being installed everywhere else anyway, so that bit of history shouldn't have been defaced.

Nah, the funniest thing about that was that the conservation officer was complaining that they would be detrimental to the view of the city from the wall... yet on the other side of the wall, creeping into shot every now and then, was a ghastly 80s/ 90s office development!!!

imo, there is little point in "preserving" history if no one will be around in the future to see it!

 

[RonnyRaygun]

The most shocking to me is the old couple allowed to install solar panels inside Chester city wall, I really didn't understand why they wanted them so much. If the environment is so important to them, they could rest assured that these eyesores are being installed everywhere else anyway, so that bit of history shouldn't have been defaced.

But are people allowed to install TV aerials and satellite dishes within Chester's city walls? They are as much (if not more) of an eyesore, and they do nothing to help the environment.

I don't see why people have a such a problem with PV panels.

 

[rjm2k]

Nah, the funniest thing about that was that the conservation officer was complaining that they would be detrimental to the view of the city from the wall... yet on the other side of the wall, creeping into shot every now and then, was a ghastly 80s/ 90s office development!!!

imo, there is little point in "preserving" history if no one will be around in the future to see it!

Ah, but it's quite often the case that the inside area of city walls is protected, but the other side isn't.

 

[rjm2k]

But are people allowed to install TV aerials and satellite dishes within Chester's city walls? They are as much (if not more) of an eyesore, and they do nothing to help the environment.

I don't see why people have a such a problem with PV panels.

You don't have many 17+m long TV aerials or satellite dishes and to be fair, I believe they can also be controlled by conservation can't they?

I think PV panels are a huge gravy train at the moment, in years to come they will leave a legacy to be dealt with like any other power source.

 

[luisdesign]

The current trouble with them is there are few integrated solutions and lots of people wanting a "quick fix" instead.

You can get solar tiles which get installed within the fabric of the roof in place of tiles, and these are much more suitable than the all too common retrofit panels. Trouble is they are a lot more expensive.

However, within protected buildings or areas of historic interest there is little reason why the authorities couldn't insist on these less intrusive options. I mean, it's not different to them insisting on conservation style roof light windows!

 

[RonnyRaygun]

Yes, there are rules on positioning of aerials etc, but I guess the environmental benefits trump the subjective aesthetic detriment.

Whether or not PV panels will leave a legacy, I don't know. What are the implications of sourcing of materials, manufacture, transportation, installation, and subsequent disposal?
Does this offset the reduced consumption of fossil fuels?

As with electric cars. The environmental cost of manufacturing the vehicle, producing batteries, and running on electricity produced by fossil fuels almost certainly offsets any environmental gain.

Personally I think we should be doing all we can to protect the planet and if there is a genuine environmental benefit to PV panels then they should be installed in as many places as possible. Surely a "conservation" area is a good place to start!

 

[RonnyRaygun]

imo, there is little point in "preserving" history if no one will be around in the future to see it!

Exactly!

 

[kjacko]

Yeah i found myself watching this too.
Amazed at the mosque decision, it was so obviously biased in imho. The lead chair (who didn't look like a natural caucasion) and the other asian fella moved for a vote pretty darned quickly without hearing what everyone had to say. Thought that was pretty outrageous.

Not saying they 'shouldn't have had consent, but it should have been discussed properly and not fast-tracked due to the backhanders those two councillors must have (obviously) got.

The other 2 cases were common sense and glad they were approved.

Quite interesting programme.