Dave, illegal building and retrospective planning applications was practiced by building professionals long before these groups were using it as a tactic. They had good teachers in the building game and learned fast. It's the governments and councils that are slow to learn. If the UK is anything like Ireland, I'm sure quite a number of house extensions and loft or barn conversions have been built and then had a retrospective planning application put in. The question that comes to mind is why is there retrospective planning in the first place? Surely if a builder is going to build something he knows what he is building before he starts? My understanding is that it is a mechanism to allow planning to be obtained for one type of building and when the builder "accidently" builds it too big or too high, he can apply after it is built and with a damn good chance of retaining it in it's new size/shape. And of course, once one guy gets away with it, others jump on the bandwagon and all because there has been previous approval to another builder by the same council. Hard to say no to Peter when you have already said yes to Paul for a similar issue. So it seems it is really a flaw in the planning process, which a section of the community seem willing to exploit and the government and councils are unwilling to change it because they get a lot of support from the building industry. I think the bottom line on this, as always, is money. Follow the money trail to see where it leads and you will find the reason why it has dragged on so long. Have you had them move on to privately scenic areas and look for money to move off them, before the lengthy court process is begun? It worked here for a while and some of them made a few quid, don't hear much about it now, though.
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27-09-2011, 20:00
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