Unauthorised engineering operations on a PD

[Ian H]

What a loads of *******s.

I’d ask if you can borrow their time machine, they must have one if they can enforce things that happened before fictional rule changes.

Did the council take money off you for the dropped curb?

I would reply and tell them you believe it to be lawful and if they don’t they should send the enforcement notice.

 

[Ian H]

I’d also make up and-mail address and report every new driveway in your town.

 

[cdbe]

It's weird how these planners work. Earlier this year my planning officer stood on my 80sqm of obviously new, impermeable and undrained (other than onto the street) block paved driveway as we discussed my proposed house extension and didn't even bat an eyelid. But if a neighbour had complained....……

 

[calara]

Yes paid over £1k for dropped kerb only a car width long. Got all paperwork for that.

 

[^woody^]

Yes the ruling changed in June this year we did driveway May last year so over a year before, but they said it didn’t matter they had 4 years to do enforcement in.

Nonsense. No regulation or standard change can be retrospective.

The mention of £900 fee is also nonsense, as it the talk of a £20k fine. I explained the process to you earlier in this thread.

What you may like to to do is get the officers name if you don't already have it, and then write back to him with what he has told you "for clarification" to be sure that he confirms his statements. Also ask for his case law references and appeal precedents that he was referring to - as this helps when those statements need to be used in your favour if you are minded to refute the planners claims.

Otherwise you just do as they ask.

 

[calara]

Thanks Woody I plan to do that as I got totally confused by all the things they were saying (and I’ll be honest with you I got a bit emotional and teared up a bit too because it is all such a nonsense and it’s so stressful so that didn’t help!!) about routes to take and when councillors would get involved and we didn’t see the law amendment, he couldn’t find it because he wasn’t wearing his glasses. So I plan to ask him for all this in writing. Just such rubbish timing being right before Christmas as well.

 

[James Martin]

Calara. Write the letter exactly as Woody has said above. Above all, don't worry, enjoy your Christmas, and wait for the council to come back to you. If they do, come back on here, and we will all help you as much as we can. Most of the planning officers i have come across over the years are useless. I'm more than happy to help in any way i can. Many others on here will want to help you aswell. Write the letter as per Woody's post, and relax.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Any excavations deeper than a railway sleeper constitutes engineering works! That is complete and utter bullshit, I would be very surprised if that was upheld at appeal.

By the way, since when did depth of excavations start getting measured in units of railway sleepers. Will Building Control be asking for foundations to be 5 railway sleepers deep? What orientation of railways sleeper? Depth, height or length? Bloody nonsense.

Plus, how deep were these "excavations" anyway?

Who is to say that they didn't just remove all the turf because it was diseased/pest-ridden/full of moss, weeds etc, which is called "gardening". Then in an unrelated and separate exercise subsequently converted the bare ground to hardstanding?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And it seems the person complained because they don’t like how it looks and it means they can’t park as easily on our road!

Did they tell you who it was? They shouldn't, and I hope they didn't. But not because they shouldn't - the last thing you need is any proof that there's been a dispute between you and a neighbour because you'd have to declare that if ever you sell. If "officially" all you know is that the council are complaining then that's the way you want it to stay.

As for them not being able to park as easily, as you've got a fully legal dropped kerb then they may be stuffed anyway. It might depend on where you are, but parking alongside a dropped kerb is an offence in many areas. Have a look on your council's website.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Just a thought - I can't visualise what part the wall plays in all of this, but if things really do go pear shaped over the gravel situation then maybe you could use a grass paver grid or turf protection mesh to give you a lawn you can park on.

 

[Munzy]

Thanks Woody I plan to do that as I got totally confused by all the things they were saying (and I’ll be honest with you I got a bit emotional and teared up a bit too because it is all such a nonsense and it’s so stressful so that didn’t help!!) about routes to take and when councillors would get involved and we didn’t see the law amendment, he couldn’t find it because he wasn’t wearing his glasses. So I plan to ask him for all this in writing. Just such rubbish timing being right before Christmas as well.

Right then, I’m going to be quite harsh with you here but it’s for your own good and I really hope you listen, take it onboard and follow my advice. I am 100% on your side here and I’ll be the first to help you write a letter or send you £50 towards a solicitor.

In life you will encounter all sorts of people. Relevant to this story are the following characters... Nasty Neighbours, Council Jobsworths and Suckers. Depending on how you proceed with this matter you may (or may not) fill the role of the Sucker. Harsh but allow me to explain what has happened.

Nasty Neighbour can no longer park close to the front of his house and has to look at your car a few feet from his front door because you converted your garden to a drive just as many of your neighbours have done. NN has gone to the council and complained. NN is either a complete pain in the arse and incessantly pestering the Council Jobsworth or NN has a personal relationship with CJ and is forcing his hand. I say this because, as Woody has pointed out, the information CJ has provided you is completely inaccurate and is designed to make you panic and be fearful, there is motivation present to make you act a certain way. The CJ is desperate for you to reverse your driveway work without a fight, he has advised you don’t apply for Planning Permission as you’ll fail and he’s plucking financial figures out of thin air to put you off appealing or ignoring his advice.

Congratulations, your reaction thus far is exactly as the CJ and NN hoped. You have attended a meeting, cried in front of the CJ, shown weakness and lack of confidence in your situation and worse still a fear of the consequences. You have cast yourself as the Sucker.

How does this story conclude? There are two outcomes.

1) You dig up your gravel and cover it over with soil to appease your NN and by doing so CJ will go away too. Your name will be synonymous with “Sucker” and your self-confidence will suffer over the coming years. Worse still within five years NN will stick his nose in on a completely different matter and ask you to bend over whilst he humiliates you again. You will comply... again... and your self-pity will consume you.

2) You take strength in the many voices of support here (including my own), take a step back and try to smell the coffee. At the moment you can’t think straight, you’re far too emotional. You send a concise and confident letter to the CJ asking for a full breakdown in writing of the many points he raised with you during your meeting. Once received you send an even more confident letter stating that you do not believe that at the time of the work you were in contravention of any laws or planning policy. You also make CJ aware that you have also received professional advice that says you do not require Planning Permission. You believe the CJ has misunderstood planning policy or is being deliberately misleading and you will fight this matter fully right the way through to the High Court at extreme expense to the local council. You then ignore all further correspondence including requests for phone calls or meetings. CJ will not serve an enforcement notice, he will tell NN that it is not in the council’s interest to fight this all the way through the courts. NN will feel angry but will have learnt a valuable lesson and will realise that you can’t be pushed around. You will keep your lovely legal driveway and enjoy it every single day. Most importantly you will look back at this experience for years to come and you will see that you very nearly became a Sucker but instead YOU chose to stand up for yourself and you will feel proud of yourself and confident in tackling anything else life throws at you.

Please don’t be a Sucker. All this boils down to you needing to be a bigger pain in the arse for CJ than NN is currently being. Regain control, it’s not too late.

Keep us posted please and let me know if I can help.

Munzy (a former Sucker turned Winner)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Nasty Neighbour can no longer park close to the front of his house

AIUI there's a very good chance that he won't be able to whatever happens, now that the kerb is dropped.

NN will feel angry but will have learnt a valuable lesson and will realise that you can’t be pushed around.

Let's just hope that NN is not bonkers, or a thug, or both.

calara - as I said I think you really don't want to know who NN is, for reasons of dispute history.

But do you "know" who it is? Any chance of nasty/thuggish revenge if he doesn't get your driveway removed?

 

[^woody^]

The Force is strong in this one.

 

[Doppleganger]

I would have thought that the one piece of objective information that is missing is an impartial assessment of the degree of engineering works.
A photo of the drive would speak volumes, and allow experienced posters to give such impartial advice.
Maybe even some photos of the other drives in the road.

 

[lt8480]

As far as I can understand you haven't been served enforcement, rather just a notice telling you the council believe you have contravened planning rules. The reason they do this is the "4 year" period is now null and void if you are n the wrong as you've been told. So in theory they can now pursue you years down the line... if they so wished.

In reality I expect they won't go for enforcement, as it is unlikely to be in the public interest, and ultimately that is the first thing they should consider.

Tell the council you have sought legal advice and you have been advised to request the LPA retract their vague notice, or otherwise clarify the actual breach.