You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
1st world problems i know, but there has to be an easier way, I just want to buy a 10ft wide strip of land next to my back yard from the local council for a bit of extra parking... 2 months, 4 scale drawings, forms notices, numerous emails later and they have rejected the application because I ticked the wrong box on one ambiguously (IMHO) worded question.
All this not to mention being passed around between property services and the planning department because no one seems to know their job or take responsibility for anything!! I had 2 drawings rejected because they weren't on 'a recommended paper size' So I resized the document to A0 and they said that was no good because it wouldnt fit on their A3 printer!!!
Now have to fill the whole form in again, resubmit all the documents and wait 8 weeks for them to deal with it... and they are only working 2 hours a day due to 'covid restrictions' - wtf!
you do realise you'll probably need planning consent too don't you ??
That sounds about right, I work for a local authority but am fan of the planning process!
The way to get things moving in local authority world is to get your local councillor on board. Get in touch with him or her, have a conversation with them and ask if they can help smooth things out. Stress you are not trying to cut corners, but instead just that the process isn’t working. I’ve done this as a constituent and been on other end as a council officer. It’s remarkable how things get done when the politicians are asking.
Remember council officers are working to delegated powers, ie doing the work on behalf of your elected officials.
you do realise you’ll probably need planning consent too don’t you ??
Yep thats why i'm doing this little dance 😉
Get in touch with him or her, have a conversation with them and ask if they can help smooth things out.
What? NO! Planning processes shouldn't be influenced in any way by who you know, or by getting someone to smooth things out. Your council needs to fix its problem with corrupt councillors before fixing planning.
And there's no point going down the "they're just helping" line - they shouldn't be involved in the first place. If they smooth it along, you owe them a favour and on top of that are at an advantage compared to someone who doesn't know them; or who doesn't have the ability to contact them; or who has complained to them in the past and got their backs up.
That you work for a local authority and consider this acceptable is bad enough.
What? NO! Planning processes shouldn’t be influenced in any way by who you know, or by getting someone to smooth things out. Your council needs to fix its problem with corrupt councillors before fixing planning.
And there’s no point going down the “they’re just helping” line – they shouldn’t be involved in the first place. If they smooth it along, you owe them a favour and on top of that are at an advantage compared to someone who doesn’t know them; or who doesn’t have the ability to contact them; or who has complained to them in the past and got their backs up.
That you work for a local authority and consider this acceptable is bad enough.
You read my post completely wrong, or I gave completely the wrong impression. Either way it would appear that you don't know how these things work at all.
Of course Councillors should influence the decision, in this case though I am suggesting that they can influence the process. If any department of the Council is not doing it job properly then it is perfectly normal to ask a Councillor to intervene to give the officers a boot up the arse. It happens every single day.
Planning will absolutely be influenced by Councillor's, it is the very point of how things work. Planning decisions are Councillor decisions, it is just that for the smaller stuff they delegate decision to officers. Appeals, big decisions and difficult cases get called in to Planning Committee. In these cases Officers only advise, they do not decide.
I was having a hard time getting through planning and I met with my local councillor who convened a meeting between us and planning officer to help progress things. He listened to both sides then asked the planning team to talk through their objections. He challenged this constructively, benchmarked against local precedents and the local development plan. He then offered to call the decision in to a (public) Planning Committee. Totally above board, transparent, and an example of how the local democratic process works. In our case in worked in our favour.
This is why many people will use a 3rd party who is more au fait with the process.
And there’s no point going down the “they’re just helping” line – they shouldn’t be involved in the first place. If they smooth it along, you owe them a favour and on top of that are at an advantage compared to someone who doesn’t know them; or who doesn’t have the ability to contact them; or who has complained to them in the past and got their backs up.
That you work for a local authority and consider this acceptable is bad enough.
Sorry, coming back to this again as its annoyed me.
they shouldn’t be involved in the first place
Do you understand that they are involved as it is ultimately their decision? If Councillors aren't involved in things like this, what is the point of an Elected Council?
you owe them a favour
Of course I don't owe them a favour, that is a crazy misunderstanding of how this works. They only help as that is the very reason they have been elected, to represent their constituents.
are at an advantage compared to someone who doesn’t know them; or who doesn’t have the ability to contact them
I don't know them, I got in touch formally through the council website. The same way any constituent can. I could have written to them, used Facebook, Twitter, email or telephone. I could have walked into a Council Office and asked for a message to be sent. Or, in normal times, I could have gone to a clinic. This is the process, it is how things are meant to work. Not only is it above board, it is to be encouraged.
The reason I posted my experience is it is an example of how things should work. Of course I would have preferred it if the Planners hadn't been obstructive in the first place but using this process meant I didn't end up paying for a Planning Consultant or going through lengthy appeals processes. Those same processes would have ended up costing the Council more time and money as well
That you work for a local authority and consider this acceptable is bad enough
I think it is acceptable as it is the correct, legal, transparent and ethical process. No favours, no brown envelops, no mates. Just local elected member fairly working for his constituent and either challenging, or backing up, officers as required. It is local democracy in action and should be encouraged.
Of course councilors can be involved. Different area but after twice reporting a faulty treaffic light to the council with no response I contacted my councilor. Lights fixed the next day.
an advantage compared to someone who doesn’t know them; or who doesn’t have the ability to contact them
I looked up my councilors email. How hard is it to contact them? Pretty sure his phone was listed as well along with weekly surgeries.
How did you manage to get the council to agree to sell you their land and how was the price negotiated?
How did you manage to get the council to agree to sell you their land and how was the price negotiated?
Pfft negotiations you say? Err no, the process is 1. Contact property services, pay them a fee and they decide if they want to sell you the land 'in principle'. Of course nothing can be done until you have planning permission for a 'change of use' from 'amenity land' to residential land.
2. Contact planning to work out which form to submit & pay another fee, at this point you are around £900 lighter and still don't know if you will be able to buy said land and how much it will cost you...then get dicked around by people who clearly have no idea what they are doing (see original post)
3. When and if planning permission is granted pay the council a 'valuation fee' to find out how much the 10ft strip of grass is going to actually cost and then bend over and get Rogered for an extra £1500 for the councils solicitors to convey the strip of grass.
These people work for us, so I'm told
"then get dicked around by people who clearly have no idea what they are doing (see original post)"
think you're dicking yourself about by no filling in a form properly or understanding the process
"these people work for us" which is what your paying the fees and costs for 🙂
why should the everyone else cover these for something that'll benefit you.....
are you a millenial??
think you’re dicking yourself about by no filling in a form properly or understanding the process
Hardly, but thanks for your insight, but its an overly complicated process imo, i'm not expecting miracles but when the advice is to provide 1:50 scale drawing then they complain that it wont fit on their A3 printer you have to wonder if they know what they are doing, being as they are with the planning dept and presumably deal with scale drawings all the time.
I'm not a millenial, i've always paid my way, that's why i'm a full member and not throwing insults from the cheap seats...
I’m not a millenial, i’ve always paid my way, that’s why i’m a full member and not throwing insults from the cheap seats…
skellnonch
Free Member
(I have just had to update my card - have you checked your payment details) 🙂
Oh, and well said franksinatra.
Noted 😉