PenguinJunk
In Spring 2008 my partner and I sketched out ideas for a garden shed. We took them to the local planning office surgery and were told that we would not need planning permission for them. We also discussed the shed with our immediate neighbours and they did not stress any concerns.
We started the building around June 2008 and during the building an officer from the council visited and confirmed that there was no problem with the building. We remained in constant contact with our neighbours and continued to understand that they had no problem with the building.
The building was completed in Nov or Dec 2008. Since that time, during some other work, an officer came to our property and confirmed that the shed was not a problem. Earlier this year we wanted to have some documents to say that the building was exempt and so applies for a regularisation certificate. We had this form returned saying that it was unnecessary.
However, a month or so later, a planning officer came by saying that he had heard about our shed through building regulations. This is first time we had understood that building regulations and planning or separate entities. The officer told us that our shed contravened the regulation that it should not be with 2m of the boundary if it is greater than 2.5m tall. I understand that this regulation was introduced in October 2008 - after we had contacted the planning department about our plans and when our shed was almost complete.
He applied for permission retrospectively but it has been refused because the building is 'unneighbourly'. Since building the shed, our neighbour has removed their outbuilding that ran alongside it and so the shed is visible from their property (which is should not have been when it was original completed).
Please, can anyone tell me if we have grounds to appeal given:
-We tried our best to notify the authorities of this building and to keep it within regulations - if we had been trying to keep it quiet we would not have applied for a regularisation certificate
-The regulation our shed contravenes was only introduced during the building work
-The reason given for refusing permission would not have stood at the time of completion and it is only because the neighbour made alterations their property that our shed is noticeable
We started the building around June 2008 and during the building an officer from the council visited and confirmed that there was no problem with the building. We remained in constant contact with our neighbours and continued to understand that they had no problem with the building.
The building was completed in Nov or Dec 2008. Since that time, during some other work, an officer came to our property and confirmed that the shed was not a problem. Earlier this year we wanted to have some documents to say that the building was exempt and so applies for a regularisation certificate. We had this form returned saying that it was unnecessary.
However, a month or so later, a planning officer came by saying that he had heard about our shed through building regulations. This is first time we had understood that building regulations and planning or separate entities. The officer told us that our shed contravened the regulation that it should not be with 2m of the boundary if it is greater than 2.5m tall. I understand that this regulation was introduced in October 2008 - after we had contacted the planning department about our plans and when our shed was almost complete.
He applied for permission retrospectively but it has been refused because the building is 'unneighbourly'. Since building the shed, our neighbour has removed their outbuilding that ran alongside it and so the shed is visible from their property (which is should not have been when it was original completed).
Please, can anyone tell me if we have grounds to appeal given:
-We tried our best to notify the authorities of this building and to keep it within regulations - if we had been trying to keep it quiet we would not have applied for a regularisation certificate
-The regulation our shed contravenes was only introduced during the building work
-The reason given for refusing permission would not have stood at the time of completion and it is only because the neighbour made alterations their property that our shed is noticeable