Planning Permission

[d000hg]

Surely the woke types are against building anything apart from social housing?

We have used a planning consultant to overturn an objection before so that part sounds legit. But this is about them knowing the rules to avoid council just saying "no we don't like it" not 'trick' anyone. Well at least ours was.

The planning application is presumably live on the internet for anyone interested, have you had a nosy?

[Paddy]

And here's the formula:

1) buy an agricultural field* somewhere nice
2) do a bit of "farming" on it (few goats, chickens etc)
3) hire a planning consultant who knows how to "navigate" the system
4) apply for planning permission for a house on the basis that [...] outweighs any planning considerations
5) get your (woke/virtue signalling) Parish Council and County Councillor on side
6) and with a bit of luck, bingo!

* can be as cheap as £10k/acre, depending on where you, live but certainly a tiny fraction of the cost of building land

Yep, there is a chappie not far away who does this, he then divides the land and sells it off and then builds another farm house until it ends up with loads of small farms with half a dozen chickens on each of them

[DealorNoDeal]

Surely the woke types are against building anything apart from social housing?

The applicant's son has special needs, and the argument put forward was that it would be best for his long term future if the family could live on the smallholding. The Parish Council and County Councillor supported this, and the Planning Committee went along with it even though it was contrary to planning policy (new build in the open countryside / AONB).

Ironically, the Planning officer said the proposed development wouldn't be suitable for low-cost/social housing because, even with a substantial discount, it would be way out of the reach of ordinary families. Not surprising when it would fetch over £1m on the open market.

[d000hg]

Council policies can be a big PITA (whether it's planning or anything else) because they allow for easy avoidance of meaningful discussion.

Q: We'd like to buy this land the council own, can we make an offer?
A: Our policy is all land for sale must be advertised on the open market to get the best price
Q: OK, well we are interested in buying it, could you put it on the market.
A: Our policy is land may only be put up for sale when it is determined to be surplus
Q: Can you take a look at this plot and see then?
A: This plot has not been marked as surplus so unfortunately we cannot put it up for sale
Q: May we request someone take a look at the plot to see if it could be deemed surplus?
A: This plot has not been marked as surplus so unfortunately we cannot put it up for sale

Very "computer says no".

Similarly:

Q: We'd like to make a planning application to start a business within our property/garden
A: Our policy is to allow no new building outside the boundary of the village, we anticipate your application will be rejected
Q: How is the boundary ascertained
A: it was drawn in 1976
Q: Why is this your policy? Can we discuss the reasoning and why our case should be considered?
A: Our policy is to allow no new building outside the boundary of the village, we anticipate your application will be rejected

[DealorNoDeal]

From our's and neighbour's experience here:

Suppose you want to do X, where X is a bit iffy.

1) if you informally ask a Planning Officer about it, they'll almost certainly say no chance
2) if you submit a pre-planning application, they'll also probably say no chance
3) if you submit a full planning application, you have more of a chance
4) if you do X without permission and are unlucky enough to get dobbed in, they're very unlikely* to take enforcement action (in other words you'll be allowed to get away with it)

* the only exception to this is if you build a house or massive extension without PP, or put a static caravan on your land (they've got a thing about caravans)

--------------------

If you get away with something for 4 years, without PP, even a new house, you're in the clear anyway. (I think it used to be 10 years but they reduced it.)

[d000hg]

Yeah the pre-planning is there to help you find and fix issues in your main application it's not binding in any way. It was because of the comments we got from that that we engaged a planning consultant, as it became obvious we didn't know how to do a proper application with a good chance of success.

You can of course get retrospective PP - if you do work without permission and there's no problem with it this should be fine though there might (?) be a surcharge.
If you are doing something that's actually a problem, there's a pretty good chance you will get 'dobbed in' because it will be blocking a neighbour's view or the building lorries will piss people off and they'll check if a PP was granted.
I have an alert set on my immediate area for any PP applications

[DealorNoDeal]

BTW, I found the recommendation from the Senior Planning Officer to refuse permission.

"The site is in an unsustainable rural location away from any settlement, the proposed dwelling would be visible within the rural context and would detract from the open countryside character and the special landscape character and scenic beauty of the Cornwall AONB in which the site lies through the introduction of built residential development. The evidence provided has not demonstrated that there is a functional need for an agricultural worker to live on site, nor has it been demonstrated that the farming business is financially viable to an extent that would support a new dwelling. Furthermore, the personal circumstances of the applicant are not of sufficient weight to overcome this lack of justification and the identified harm to the AONB to which great weight must be given."

But the Planning Committee went against this and voted to approve it.