Joint # 1 – The prize for the most devious use of the planning system

It has not been possible to separate the two short-listed developers for this hotly contested grand prize. So we have joint-winners for this award.

‘It is all to plan and there can be no problem’

The planning proposal involved building a new estate and it was always contentious because of the size and number of houses they wanted to cram onto the site. One of the houses was to be very close to the fence for the rear garden of a neighbour. To alleviate the impact and to increase the distance between the 2 storey house and the fence, the house was set at a skew and formed a ‘L-shape’ with the cut-out for the L increasing the distance to the fence.

As the walls started to be built the neighbour noticed that the closest house was now ‘rectangular’ and encroached on his garden fence. He spoke to the council and they agreed that the position of the walls was wrong and so a site-meeting was called to have the builder correct the error.

The developer opened the site-meeting stating “it is all to plan and there can be no problem.” The developer showed the house on his plans and it was rectangular.  It then became clear that the developer had a later set of plans to the council and he claimed that his were the ‘approved plans’.

The council investigated and worked out that the developer had made several related planning applications for the reserved matters. In the reserved matters application to confirm the access road design he had slipped in a few additional changes to the houses with no mention that the changes were on the drawings. The council had no reason to check for changes to the buildings.  When the access road design was approved the house revisions became the ‘approved plan’.  The council was forced to give the developer the benefit of the doubt.

The things some developers will say and do

Cont..

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