Durham area? Hope you will complain to your Council

MaizieD There may be a time limit but does it not strike you as strange that these buildings should have been completely overlooked by everyone? Isn't it just posssible that the council actually knew but didn't bother because of the substantial amount owned by the Cummings family and their connections?

I have read the thread MaizieD. Perhaps the buildings would have been given planning consent had it been asked for,which clearly it was not, as they do not intrude on public amenities.

As it is planning rules are so often ignored and the planners let people get away with it usually by people who know how to play the system. We have a small business park near us and the owners never ask for planning permission for extending. They just go ahead and should anyone complain to the Council he gets away with it because it offers employment. But you do it right as a house owner you can get all sorts of things chucked at you.

Doesn't anybody read the thread?

Should I have put a dreaded link to the government extract? I wasn't making it up.

www.gov.uk/guidance/ensuring-effective-enforcement#planning-enforcement--overview

Same applies, trisher. There is a time limit on these things.

Froglady

In some cases where things like this have happened, the people have had to remove the offending buildings! Why hasn't this happened here? And as for waiving the extra council tax, that takes it to another 'corrupt' level.

If you'd read the large extract I copied from the government planning site you would see that there is a time limit of up to 10 years for councils to order demolition. At least one of the properties was built in 2002 (Cummings blogged about it). The other one is presumably out of time, too.

Strange isn't it? once upon a time the council was so keen to pull down buildings without planning permission one of its officers was murdered in the course of his job. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Harry_Collinson
Now no one cares.

GagaJo

Ironic. While my house was being gutted and uninhabitable, I still paid 25% council tax.

I think it depends on the Council and how they interpret the rules, Gagojo.
That sounds unduly harsh.

In fact I'd be checking the small print!

I think you would need to understand all the fine details about planning laws and procedures to get to the bottom of various cases, it’s certainly complicated.

Hetty Yes, a similar thing happened in my village, an extension to a house turned quietly into two separate houses.
Neighbours complained, work on the houses stopped for six months and then resumed.Nothing was done to stop it.

In some cases where things like this have happened, the people have had to remove the offending buildings! Why hasn't this happened here? And as for waiving the extra council tax, that takes it to another 'corrupt' level.

Galaxy that probably wasn't the best choice of words, but it was a lot more polite than what I was thinking.

I had a lot of respect for both her predecessors - and I didn't even vote for them.

Ironic. While my house was being gutted and uninhabitable, I still paid 25% council tax.

Was anyone living in the house? Was it finished to a state that was habitable?
An empty homes premium could be charged but perhaps it was left unfinished deliberately. A Completion Notice could be issued, however.

My neighbours built something entirely different from their plans. They must have been advised that they'd get away with it.

A council officer said that enforcement action would certainly be taken to correct the 'breach' of planning.

Nothing changed, and when I asked about the outcome - apparently they had said that they couldn't afford to put it right (they could, just didn't want to).

End of story - planning rules are a joke!

The Cummings don't need to get retrospective planning permission, it's out of time.

But the council could charge them a bit of back Council Tax if they had the bottle..

I've known people who have gone ahead and gained retrospective planning permission and others who have taken a chance but have had to demolish buildings eg I remember a super pigsty being built in Devon many years ago. It had windows, heating, everything the three little pigs would need.
It had to be demolished.

It often depends on who you know.

Nothing wrong in holding views, and planning permission is there for good reasons, but I would expect only locals would be either complaining to the Council or phoning MP’s about this.In any case, the Council know about it already and up to them to deal with it....either way.

It’s the Dominic Cummings connection isn’t it.....be honest!

Are we only to hold views about people if we live near them now? Somebody needs to tell the people on the Harry and Meghan threads if so.

You live in Switzerland biba and when in the UK you are nowhere near Durham, so why get so worked up about this
Planning/lack of planning permission by a member of Dominic Cummings family?
There either were faults by the family or faults by the Council there, but either way it’s for the two parties to sort out between them.It doesn’t impact on anybody else.

Oh for goodness sake biba, all I was saying is that it's not only the privileged who can get away with avoidance, not that it's an acceptable thing to do! Just that ANYONE can if they want too,!

I was no fan of laura pidcock but find that phrase deeply unpleasant. Her predecessor was one of the best constituency MPs I have ever experienced.

Jaberwork- some of us do not try to cheat and avoid getting proper permission, following the rules and paying our dues. Sayy it all really- about the mindset. Appalling.

At the end of the day, it does not matter about people like Holden listening, or doing anything. Letters in the Press, to Council, to other local representatives, to all the other parties asking them to tackle this fraudulent injustice- and not let them get away with it.

Septimia

*MaizieD and Galaxy*, Holden has done more than that useless slip of a girl who preceded him. He's been out visiting rural constituents and is promoting the much-needed new Shotley Bridge Hospital, for a start.

I think that's probably a matter of opinion. I heard very good reports of that 'useless slip of a girl'.

He's certainly not representing me in voting to break international law, to do away with parliamentary scrutiny and to lower our food standards... I doubt if our rural constituents are terribly impressed by the latter..

well he has been rumbled- or in fact, in rumbled himself due to his stupid, irresponsible behaviour. Someone is pulling the strings- and the other parties in that constituency should kick hell about it.

MaizieD and Galaxy, Holden has done more than that useless slip of a girl who preceded him. He's been out visiting rural constituents and is promoting the much-needed new Shotley Bridge Hospital, for a start.