Planning Application Progress
So…this morning I made an enquiry with the local planning officer for an update to a current householder planning application for a client who wants to extend and alter their house in Poole. The application was registered on March 18th and in the normal course of events, a decision would have been reached by now. As I write, it is the 3rd of June, so we are well past the anticipated decision date.
Upon checking, the case officer e-mailed me to say that the council have been unable to erect a site notice (designed to inform the public of proposed development works in the vicinity). This is usually done expediently once the application has been registered, and takes the form of laminated A4 dayglo paper which is affixed to lamp posts to attract the curious.
We have all been glued to our TV screens to keep up to date with current affairs, so I kind of know what is going on in the world, but I was surprised by the LPA’s over-cautious stance.
I know they have a duty to protect their staff, but to my mind, all it takes is one man to walk up to a lamp post with a pre-prepared notice and affix the said sign with cable ties or string – of course, he would be prepared by wearing appropriate PPE.
Anyhow, upon querying this with the case officer and saying OK, so why not send out letters to the immediate neighbours instead, she wrote back saying “Unfortunately at the moment the usual protocol of sending out letters to neighbouring sites is not possible.”
Hmmm, … but Why not? Have you run out of stamps? Or ink for your printer?
Usually, there is a three-week site notice period which runs from the time the site notice is erected, which gives the public time to air their views if they so wish. Luckily the delay won’t impact our client but may delay your project if you are holding off.
If you are thinking of extending or altering your property, contact us and remember that you will need to allow more time for the Local Planning Authority to process your application due to our current circumstances with Covid-19.
With gratitude and respect
team at Kaviani Architects
Neil Bichard
Posted at 10:21h, 27 Julybut interestingly Poole have been able to send their enforcement officer out to site!
Kaviani
Posted at 11:46h, 27 JulyThanks, Neil for your comment and yes, thankfully and slowly the wheel is turning again. We have been waiting for a response from Local Authority on our Householder application project since March and only in July, we received a reply. Should have heard a response by May but finally 4 months later some good news :0)