Planning Appeal

Thanks everyone. I will have to give this a lot of thought.

It took us over a year to get planning permission for an extension (converting outbuildings into an annex for my elderly mother in law) and to paint the rendered stonework on the front of the house. Also many hours of phone calls, letters, and site visits from various officials. Finally got the permission and work started. When the building was up to first floor, we were told that we had not got permission to take down an old wall that had been at the back of the outbuildings and had to apply for retrospective planning. (The stones from the wall had already been used in the new build) You will need a lot of time and patience Good Luck
And by the way we only wanted to paint the front of the house a neutral cream colour not purple or lime green!!

Don't do it on your own, it takes ages even with someone who is experienced in the field. We had our plans drawn up and submitted and they were turned down so he redid them and submitted them again, nitpicking for the sake of half a metre. Passed the second time but all the faffing took 15 months and delayed the start of work.

The guy who drew the plans for our extension put them through planning for us. We got a letter saying it was within'permitted development' and started the project. Then a someone from the planning dept came for a site visit just as we had finished all the external works and decided it should go to full planning! we just continued with the project and submitted full planning permission. It got through with a note saying it did not need full planning as it was within permitted development!

Not sure if that is any help except to illustrate that planning is a bit of a minefield so I would get professional support.

The late Mr.G as an architect, dealt many times with planners. He hated it and always advised anyone to go to the professionals when applying for PP. They are a devious lot who rarely stick to the same story. We applied 3 years ago for a big extension and all 3 Planners on our case had a different agenda. Luckily, the senior planner saw sense in the end and overruled his juniors. I would definitely seek professional advice Petra