The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Buildings & planning => Topic started by: Jim Butterworth on June 08, 2020, 12:13:04 am
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Asking for a friend (really) who has a smallholding on two largish fields about 100 metres by 50 metres each. The land is steeply sloping so the top of the field is significantly high and overlooks a recent but expensive housing estate.
He required retrospective planning permission for an alreeady built Tree House for his children but it was refused by the Planning Officer on the grounds that it was in Open Countryside (actually it was on the edge of a large copse also owned by my friend).
There have been objections from people on the estate , but they are over 100metres away from the Tree House - is this relevant when my friend can stand at the same height (and higher) than the tree house with a clear view over the estate.
As a second thought - if he is made to take the tree house down - then could he place a portable animal shelter at height elsewhere on his field and move it about every so often. This would of course give him an even better view over the estate (though it really is of no interest to him).
Thanks for reading this far.
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Appeal. I doubt if the houses could see up that far without binoculars and most their windows are below the hedge at the bottom.
If he is served a removal order (forget the technical term) it could take months to come through, and even longer to take action on it, so the kids can ahve their tree house over the summer till then. After that if he is forced to remove it he can certainly put up removable animal shelters, and move them every so often, but with no hard standing. How about railway carriages, with tea/coffee machines :innocent: - https://coltstables.co.uk/are-your-moving-your-mobile-field-shelter-enough/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20main%20advantages,to%20apply%20for%20planning%20permission.&text=However%2C%20the%20local%20planning%20agency,creation%20of%20a%20hard%20standing'.
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Just because people have objected does not mean that they were valid objections, or even that they were taken into account. He needs to examine what relevant points were considered in the planning officer's reason for refusing, and these are the factors that need to be overcome in any appeal. It may be worth appealing, or even putting another application in which overcomes the points made in the refusal decision. However, this all takes time and money so is it worth it for a tree house? As Doganjo says, it takes ages for an enforcement order to be issued, and maybe by then the children will want noisy motorbikes instead. ;D