I have a issue, there was an unfinished housing estate to the rear of my property that recently got going again. It was reactivated under “Managing & Resolving Unfinished Housing Developments”. I’m happy enough this it is going to be finished out, however under the Site Resolution Plan they condemned the block boundary wall between my site and the housing estate.
The first we heard of it was a letter from the developer late on a Sunday night that it was to be demolished the following day. It was then replaced with a “tennis court” style fence.
The first issue I suppose is that although maybe one section of the boundary wall about 200m away was cracked and perhaps structurally unsound, there was no issue with a massive section including my boundary wall.
Ultimately I wouldnt have minded if they replaced the old block wall with the same but I think this “tennis court” style fence is inferior. When I spoke with the County Council Planners after it had been put up they said that they wanted to “soften” the look of the estate.
I have requested a copy of the Structural Engineers report on the wall but both the developer and County Council Planners have chosen to ignore this request. My own opinion is that it doesn’t exist as it wasn’t included in the Site Resolution Plan while a load of other reports were included for finishing out the drains and that kind of thing.
I’m wondering is it legal to change the planning permission of the estate (ie the type of wall specified)?
They responded to my letters by say there was no issue as it was “in accordance with guidance issued by the Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government for Managing & Resolving Unfinished Housing Developments”.
I’m doubtful that it is but I’d have to spend money to challenge it and even if I won costs (which I’d be surprised if I did) then I wouldn’t be that far ahead in the end.
Any advice that people could give would be greatly appreciated.