PARWICH.ORG

The following was supplied by ‘a bemused Peak dweller’ (otherwise Peter T):

The commendable success of PARWICH.ORG, I feel, relates to the strength of our community and to neighbourliness. I had thought up to March of this year that I had understood the word ‘neighbour’, but, having been in correspondence with the Peak District National Park Authority on this matter, I now realise I have completely failed to understand this word. Hopefully readers will learn from my failure to grasp the extent of my own ignorance.

Somewhat naively I had assumed that ‘neighbour’ first and foremost means next door neighbour: ‘people that live in adjacent dwellings’. Many readers are probably shaking their heads, and wondering “Was he asleep at Sunday school? Doesn’t he know the Parable of the Good Samaritan?” (St. Luke chapter 10 verses 30-37). Indeed here Christ finishes with the question “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was the neighbour to him that fell among the thieves?”. Already there is more to the concept than first meets the eye.

I had previously voiced concern that the Peak District National Park Authority, unlike many local authorities, did not automatically inform people of planning applications that might affect their property, so I was very pleased to see they had introduced a Neighbour Notification Scheme for planning applications. Their Press Release says “Until now, site-notices have been the main method of letting people know about applications in the National Park, with letters being sent only to the nearest neighbours. But from this month (March 07) the National Park Authority will estimate the impact of a proposal on the immediate locality, and notify neighbours accordingly.” This was justifiably listed amongst the targets achieved by their Planning Service in the Authority’s Best Value Performance Plan: 2007/08 and the Best Value Performance Plan Summary in Park Life Issue 5 January 2008.

Last year I had received notification of a planning application for a property over the road from me that the Authority’s Planning Service opposed in their report to the Planning Committee. (My house and the holiday let referred to below are more than 10 metres from the nearest boundary of the property to which the application related, the relevance of which will be revealed later.) In fact I received two letters of notification, and a further two letters informing me a new set of drawings were available.

However in January of this year no notification was sent to me of a planning application for a property immediately adjoining mine. The Planning Service supported this application and it was passed on delegated authority. Although I had no objection to the actual application, I wrote to the Planning Service to point out that to my knowledge none of the 8 or so neighbouring properties had been notified.

Mr Bob Bryan, Head of the Planning Service was generous enough to take the trouble to correct my misconceptions. Two neighbours had in fact been notified (one was a neighbouring house, the wall of which formed the boundary with the applicants’ property, and the other the applicants themselves, under a former name for part of their house). Further I was not in fact a neighbour, so I was not notified under the Neighbour Notification Scheme.

The Planning Officer dealing with this case had made a decision not to extend notification to include me as a nearby but not neighbouring property (despite my adjoining the applicant’s property) as “the rear” of the garden building applied for could not possibly affect my property. (Note, its west and south faces will overlook my garden and the holiday let on my property, and its roof to the north will be visible from my garden).

Mr Bryan explained my misunderstanding arose from not realising that neighbours are in fact the “owners or occupiers of properties that abut the application site, where the nearest building* (* the reference to ‘building’ above will not generally include small ancillary buildings that are not attached to principal buildings. Officers will exercise their judgement in relation to whether such buildings generate the need for consultation under the new procedure) on the adjoining property is within 10 metres of any part of the application site.”

The details of the policy he sent me also indicated that the Authority was moving away from site notices, replacing them with neighbour notification. In future site notices will only be automatically issued for planning applications that are within a Conservation Area, or that relate to a listed building.

This 10 metre rule has the interesting effect of making ‘being a neighbour’ no longer a reciprocal relationship: my being your neighbour no longer means that you are necessarily my neighbour. For example, if householder A’s dwelling is 11 metres from a boundary with householder B’s property, where B’s dwelling is 9 metres from the same mutual boundary, then B is A’s neighbour and he/she will receive notification of any planning applications A makes, but A is not B’s neighbour and he/she will not receive notification of any applications B makes. I was most foolish not to realise in planning terms the distance between property A and property B, is not the same as the distance between property B and property A.

In relation to the application for the garden building above, I was yet again to display my ignorance. Of the 8 properties that I thought could reasonably be regarded as neighbours, some three dwellings (or possibly four depending on the interpretation of a garden room and studio) were within 10 metres of the boundary of the applicants’ property, including the holiday let on my property that is 9 metres from the said boundary. Of these only one had already received a neighbour notification. Rushing in, despite the previous exposure of my limited understanding, I wrote again to the Authority pointing out that even under the 10 metre rule some two or three ‘neighbours’ had not been notified.

Mr John Lomas, Directory of Strategy and Development replied, and with great forbearance pointed out that I had misunderstood what was meant by a house or dwelling. It is not the three dimensional building that I in my ignorance thought it was, but ‘an address point’ possibly, but not necessarily, located somewhere within the building. The Planning Service’s implementation of the Neighbour Notification Scheme is to notify properties only where the address point is within 10 metres of the said boundary.

He did agree that of the properties I thought should have been notified under the 10 metre rule, but were not, one did have an address point within 10 metres of the relevant boundary, but stated that the Case Worker had decided not to send them notification as only the rear (north side) of the garden building faced them. (I will not risk further display of ignorance by wondering how many rear sides this garden building has. Certainly I understand it not a conventional shape, as its west, north and south sides are all to the rear of it.)

Unfortunately I am still struggling to understand the concept of address points. These are green stars that appear on some maps printed out by the Peak District National Park Authority’s computer. How are these points located? This is certainly something way outside my limited understanding, as on one printout I was shown, my holiday let does have an address point, but it is in the garage for the main house, that abuts the cottage, and not in the cottage itself. I have searched in the garage to try to find this green star on the ground, as it were, but unfortunately the task was hampered by too much clutter.

I do not know where the address point for my house itself is. However if it is in the middle of my property it will be 10½ metres (11 metres if you measure it from the middle of our shared wall) from my nearest neighbour whose house is directly attached to mine. I assume the green star is either in my dining room or drawing room; I have looked under the carpet in the dining room, it is not there, but I draw the line at taking up the parquet floor in the drawing room.

Will the thickness of the wall affect whether Alan and Barbara are still my neighbours? Good friends now for over ten years, it is a shock and a great disappointment to find out that since March last year they may not have been my neighbours, even though I continue in planning terms to be their neighbour.

My original misunderstanding of ‘neighbour’ led me to think that the 5 adjoining properties and the three properties opposite were my neighbours, and I would be notified of any planning applications they made. Mr Bryan’s efforts helped me to understand that only two of them were my neighbours under the 10 metre rule, but still I needed further correction by Mr Lomas, and I now understand that I may not have any neighbours at all. Depending on the location of my green star, even the house physically attached to mine might not be my neighbour.

However it is reassuring to know that should I make any planning application for my holiday let, the Authority will send me a neighbour notification. That up to 6 adjoining properties will be able to look on me as their neighbour and will be informed of any planning application I make, is also a consolation, as though I may be feeling lonely in my ‘neighbourless’ state in the heart of a village, the surrounding people at least will not have to feel so.

It is puzzling to know whether I should further expose my ignorance by asking the Local Government Ombudsman to help me understand these mysterious and elusive green stars that abound in the Peak District. They must some how represent the fundamental essence of our homes. I did once get taken along to a meeting of The Northern Earth Mysteries Group so perhaps I should try to contact them for assistance. Is it that others can see these green stars and understand them perfectly?

Perhaps I should just rest secure in the knowledge that as Mr Lomas indicates the Authority finds it acceptable for Case Workers to disregard the Authority’s neighbour notification policy where they don’t feel a neighbour needs to know, so these green stars don’t really matter any way.

I think I am beginning to understand more about planning issues, but it is very slow work. I am not in such bad company, as Roy Hattersley had problems getting his head round the concept of a twentieth century door that was of ‘special historic interest’ and had to be preserved by creating a new two inch deep cupboard in the dining room of his Peak District home. Click here to read the text of his Spectator article on this published on 15th February 2007. Perhaps Lord Hattersley could use this new cupboard to store his green stars.

To return to the Authority’s Best Value Performance Plan: 2007/08 Summary mentioned above: despite their success with Neighbour Notification, the Planning Service failed to achieve its targets in relation to “46% of planning applications overturned on appeal”, reassuringly well above the national average, and “61% of planning applicants satisfied with the service”, presumably meaning only a very small 39% of planning applicants are not satisfied. The Authority has published more detailed figures on-line (see report on Planning Appeals 2006/07 and report on Complaints 2006/07), and I feel they are selling the Planning Service’s achievements short.

If you are looking for value for money, 84% of complaints to the Authority relate to the Planning Service, which accounts for 9.4% of the Authority’s budget. This means that for every pound spent, the Planning Service is approximately nine times more efficient at generating complaints than the rest of the Authority. Also this may undervalue the quality and complexity of these complaints, as the crude method of counting used ignores the fact that those relating to the Planning Service often involve a number of issues, whereas complaints about other Services are regularly on a single issue.

In conclusion I am genuinely most grateful to the Authority’s website that allows access to all this wonderful information that enables us to see when Officers are not taking full credit for all that has been achieved, and that will I am sure, in time, help me to overcome my own woeful ignorance. At a time when Government directives are increasing the number of planning applications decided by officers on delegated authority, this commitment of the Peak District National Park Authority to consultation with residents of the Park is most comforting.

To see planning applications for the Peak District Nation Park go to
http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/index/living-in/planning/planning-search.htm

To find out about the Peak District National Park Authority’s Complaint’s Procedure go to
http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/complaint.htm

To find out about how to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman go to
http://www.lgo.org.uk/

To find out about how to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate go to
http://www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk/pins/index.htm