Advice needed

Shoe Lover

Hi All,

I hope someone can point me in the right direction, I'm so confused with this planning stuff

We have a site which borders the M1. The site is on top of a hill, the hillside is owned by the M1 and the boundary of their land is with ours. According to planning regulations, all proposed buildings needs to be 100m away from the boundary fence. Our site is not big enough to allow for this.

Although we are beside the boundary, we are actually about 45ft up the hill from the M1 and there is no likely hood of them every being able to dig out the hill to put in a third lane.

We went to an architect who has land on the same lane as us and he said he would get on to the Roads Engineer to see what was the likelihood of him approving an application for pp. Fastforward two months and the architect has finally come back to say that the engineer has emailed him back and said that we cannot build there because of the 100m rule. The architect never got the engineer to actually visit the site in person to see what we are talking about.

We then asked the architect to have a look at another site which happens to border his sister's land. She cannot get pp on that site because she would have to widen the lane and we own the land that would be needed to widen the lane. The architect suggested that we use that site and put in a double entrance, one for us and one for her. I'm now thinking that he has been leading us up the garden path for the last two months and is only concerned about his sister getting pp.

Leaving that to one side, has anyone ever tried to get pp on site like ours? I'm so confused and not to mention disappointed.

BryanF

Shoe Lover wrote: »

Hi All,

I hope someone can point me in the right direction, I'm so confused with this planning stuff

We have a site which borders the M1. The site is on top of a hill, the hillside is owned by the M1 and the boundary of their land is with ours. According to planning regulations, all proposed buildings needs to be 100m away from the boundary fence. Our site is not big enough to allow for this.

Although we are beside the boundary, we are actually about 45ft up the hill from the M1 and there is no likely hood of them every being able to dig out the hill to put in a third lane.

We went to an architect who has land on the same lane as us and he said he would get on to the Roads Engineer to see what was the likelihood of him approving an application for pp. Fastforward two months and the architect has finally come back to say that the engineer has emailed him back and said that we cannot build there because of the 100m rule. The architect never got the engineer to actually visit the site in person to see what we are talking about.

We then asked the architect to have a look at another site which happens to border his sister's land. She cannot get pp on that site because she would have to widen the lane and we own the land that would be needed to widen the lane. The architect suggested that we use that site and put in a double entrance, one for us and one for her. I'm now thinking that he has been leading us up the garden path for the last two months and is only concerned about his sister getting pp.

Leaving that to one side, has anyone ever tried to get pp on site like ours? I'm so confused and not to mention disappointed.

sound perfectly reasonable to me, but here's what I would do

the engineer you mentioned? that sounds to me like a Local Authority engineer. they well inevitably make a submission on a planning application, regarding roads etc.. and there word is generally accepted. the NRA may also get involved.. if there's a 100m rule take it as a given..

first thing to do is get a copy of the correspondence between arch and eng

if your not happy with this architect and you say there is a conflict of interest. Get another architect.

with regards to the combined entrance, that's a standard enough solution that councils use to reduce the number of entrances. its not a big deal.
decide if you want another architect. once you make that decision get your current arch (or your soon to be adjoining neighbours arch) to draw up a draft boundary, site layout plan showing the proposed location of the two houses. and move forward form there designing your house.
also, seek legal advise re boundary and the deal proposed with neighbour (you may not need to sign anything over, until you get planning, as a letter will do the council)
lastly have a pre-planning meeting and be sure you get the comments in writing. if you can, attend this meeting with your preferred arch, this way nothing will get lost in translation:) best of luck

mal_1

I can't see where anyone can assist on the site bordering the motorway. If your land is within a sterlised zone along the boundary of the motorway, the road engineer and your architect has no option but to advise you that planning on the site isn't possible. Its unlikely that the engineer will inspect the site, unless an application is made.

sydthebeat

i have direct experience of planning applications beside motorways and i can tell you that that 100m separation distance is a hard and fast rule. The roads engineer does not have to go out on site to see this, he will have access to os maps etc which he can check quite easily.

If you cannot locate the house outside of this 100m then that piece of land is not to be consider a suitable site.

I think your architect is being reasonable about the second site two. There are particular councils which prefer the use of shared entrances when they want to restrict individual entrances on roads. If this second site os your only other option, then get your architect to organise a preplanning meeting and go in and meet the planner. Best to hear from the horses mouth so to speak.

Shoe Lover

Hi All,

Thanks very much for your responses

I've gotten in contact with another architect and he will come to see the site next Tuesday. He is on the list of the Site Surveyors for the county so hopefully he will be able to explain things to us.

In relation to the original architect, we haven't gotten rid of him yet as we want to see what this other chap says on Tuesday but I looked up the planning application for his sister's site and it turns out that he himself applied for the site twice a few years ago, so I'm not sure that he is really looking out for us

Thanks again!

sydthebeat

Shoe Lover wrote: »

He is on the list of the Site Surveyors for the county so hopefully he will be able to explain things to us.
!

??

do you mean hes on the list to carry out site assessments for percolation test?

that doesnt necessarily mean he will have any further planning knowledge.

Shoe Lover

sydthebeat wrote: »

??

do you mean hes on the list to carry out site assessments for percolation test?

that doesnt necessarily mean he will have any further planning knowledge.

I have no idea He is actually a building surveyor but he did the plans for a friend's house two months ago and when I googled him, it came up as he was on the list, but I've no idea what the list actually means. I'm so useless at this planning stuff, I just want a home

sydthebeat

when the architect applied twice few years ago.. did he ever approach you to see about widening the lane for himself?

why was he refused planning?

Shoe Lover

Yes, he did. He actually bought a bit of land off my parents-in-law so that he could widen it. He was refused on a couple of things - neighbours objecting about being overlooked and then on the lane width as well.

sydthebeat

hummm im doubtful as to whether he could remain impartial if you apply on the second site.

see how the meeting with your surveyor goes, he may be able to shed some light on the situation.

Slig

This is something that confuses me and its slightly off topic but why would you actually want to build a house so close to a motorway?

I've just worked on an extension for a couple that live in a house in a similar situation to yours (except the road is a dual carriageway and nowhere near as busy as the M1). The site they originally built their bungalow on in the 80's was down a rural lane in a quiet location however a couple of years ago the LA put in a Bypass right next to them. The road embankments are so large that they literally had to demolish their adjoining garage to fit them in.

The first day I was out there to carry out the survey the noise was unbearable outside and still a constant drone inside even though they planted screening hedges, built high blockwork walls and installed double glazing throughout the house. The next day I was out there it was raining and the road noise was at least twice as bad. They cant enjoy their garden because of the noise and smell of smoke diesel and burning rubber, they cant keep pets because they inevitably end up as road kill and boy-racers, emergency vehicle sirens and truck air horns randomly wake them up at night every night. They would love to move but admit that they are stuck as they know the noise from the road means their house will never sell.

Shoe Lover

This is where our land is and beggars can't be choosers. But the site is not actually level with the motorway. We cannot see the motorway from the site and the motorway cannot see us. There is a large drop to the motorway - as in about 45feet of a drop down a very steep hill. It just so happens that they own the hill. So when I say that we are within 100m of the boundary, I do not mean 100m of the actual road.

In relation to the noise, it is not actually that noisy, although we could be used to it at this stage. It has certainly never stopped my parents in law from sitting out in the garden!

sydthebeat

Shoe Lover wrote: »

This is where our land is and beggars can't be choosers. But the site is not actually level with the motorway. We cannot see the motorway from the site and the motorway cannot see us. There is a large drop to the motorway - as in about 45feet of a drop down a very steep hill. It just so happens that they own the hill. So when I say that we are within 100m of the boundary, I do not mean 100m of the actual road.

In relation to the noise, it is not actually that noisy, although we could be used to it at this stage. It has certainly never stopped my parents in law from sitting out in the garden!

The are many different reasons for this 100m separation distance.
Noise from motorway to dwelling is one.
Lights from motorway to dwelling is another.
So also is lighting from dwelling to motorway which may cause drivers distraction etc.
And i guess future expansion of the motorway could be put forward as another reason.

As i said above, this 100m distance is a hard and fast rule and no planner will over rule it.

the 100m is a horizontal distance as measure from the edge of the motorway boundary to any building line.... have you a layout plan showing you this exact measurement?

Carlow52

Shoe Lover wrote: »

This is where our land is and beggars can't be choosers.

Off topic perhaps but..

How did u come to get this site?

Did u buy it being unaware of the 100m rule?

Is it the residue of land that was CPO'd for the motorway?