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spandit
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I am fortunate to be the owner of a few acres in the SE, which is comprised of 2 fields. The lower one is extremely boggy in places and had a small, rather overgrown and temporary pond. With the help of a friend and a big digger, we made a much larger pond, not realising that I should have sought planning permission first. After a visit from an enforcement officer, I duly submitted a retrospective planning application which after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing was finally accepted for submission in September with decision due on Christmas Day (because I'm sure they'd be working then!)

The council planning officer assigned to the case sent a request for more detailed plans and information on December 21st, having only performed a site visit the week before. Obviously the deadline was missed and she announced yesterday she was going to visit today with a drainage engineer. I would be away at work all day and replied that I'd rather be there when they visited but she retorted that I wasn't needed and it was nothing to do with me anyway. After a threat that the application would just be rejected outright if I didn't allow them to visit the land, I relented, sending her a letter via e-mail to be careful where they step.

Today, after her visit with the engineer, I received the following e-mail:

 

Quote

My colleague lost his boot in the course of the site visit on shallow side pond - we were unable to pull it out and had to leave it. Perhaps your contractor will be able to remove it. Just thought you should be aware.

To walk back to the road where they parked is about 150 yards and I'm gutted I didn't have the trailcam set up to witness the spectacle! I still think she's going to be difficult over the application but it cheered me up no end!

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6 minutes ago, spandit said:

I am fortunate to be the owner of a few acres in the SE, which is comprised of 2 fields. The lower one is extremely boggy in places and had a small, rather overgrown and temporary pond. With the help of a friend and a big digger, we made a much larger pond, not realising that I should have sought planning permission first. After a visit from an enforcement officer, I duly submitted a retrospective planning application which after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing was finally accepted for submission in September with decision due on Christmas Day (because I'm sure they'd be working then!)

The council planning officer assigned to the case sent a request for more detailed plans and information on December 21st, having only performed a site visit the week before. Obviously the deadline was missed and she announced yesterday she was going to visit today with a drainage engineer. I would be away at work all day and replied that I'd rather be there when they visited but she retorted that I wasn't needed and it was nothing to do with me anyway. After a threat that the application would just be rejected outright if I didn't allow them to visit the land, I relented, sending her a letter via e-mail to be careful where they step.

Today, after her visit with the engineer, I received the following e-mail:

 

To walk back to the road where they parked is about 150 yards and I'm gutted I didn't have the trailcam set up to witness the spectacle! I still think she's going to be difficult over the application but it cheered me up no end!

hello, do you not just love these jobs worth people:lol: should have been quick sand

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4 minutes ago, spandit said:

They can take it out of the money I receive when I sue them for criminal damage to my nature habitat

leaving the boot was irresponsible , it could pollute the pond , you may need to get a specialist in to remove the boot , obviously the council would foot the bill.:lol:

 

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9 minutes ago, spandit said:

I'd rather get them interviewed by the police

jobsworth don't like being interviewed by police also complaint to council stating clash of personalities  have worked in my favour in the past  cant make you make the pond smaller as they don't know what size it was to start off with you only cleaned the edges up and got rid of weeds and their roots etc

Edited by Saltings
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I have a feeling that ALL of these planning officers are Little Hitlers. Had a woman, well, think it was, come to approve the conversion of one of our barns. As always in our house first things first ..a cup of coffee and a slice of cake ....she retorted. "I don't want coffee, it could be construed as a bribe."  She stood inside the barn and I asked for a window in the SE wall which has a nice view down the orchard. "You don't have windows for views, they are to let light in", was the reply. Eventually when the builder visited the council offices to have some details changed, the planning officer he saw asked why we only wanted 900 width windows, you need two 1200s at least.

 

Best of luck, but of course you should not raise the subject when she is about and others are present should you.    When I planted my wood they twisted my arm to put two ponds in.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Probably best to resist the temptation to dig in for a fight, be as charming as possible, remove and deliver it in person to their offices (cleaned), and try to get on with the ******* or else they can make the whole thing drag on for years. Gearing up for a fight can only make the whole process more time consuming and expensive for everyone involved. 

 

Edit: I see it may be a bit late for that now. 

Edited by Wb123
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