Building whilst still waiting for planning permission

[Narnia]

A wall is being erected close to where I live. It puzzled me as I'd just recently received a letter from the council advising me permission was being sought to do this. The consultation period ends in July sometime. I have no particular objection to this wall but thought I'd mention it to the chap building it whose response was 'I don't speak English'. Undoubtedly all he knows of the language, except for in the pub possibly. He is no different to me being abroad in most places when that's the minimum I try to learn of the local language.

Are there any moral issues I should be addressing here? I could report it to the council and they would probably have to take down the wall, but my foreign friend could be out of pocket. Would you do anything? If so.....why?

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I would be inclined to report it. It may only be a wall, but the principle is the same as The Concrete House.

In my experience, people who bulldoze through planning laws/protection orders, pretty much know what they are doing.

A farmer I knew chopped down loads of protected trees to increase his tillage and thought that a fait accompli would be on his side - he ended up with a jail sentence.

[karter]

that wall could fall down and kill somebody if it's not checked over by building control.

[louisiana]

If he has enough nous to file a planning application, he knows what he is doing.

It is a common habit in much of Europe never to apply to build anything, but just to do it, and to regularise it afterwards at best, (sometimes bribing a local official to do so), or perhaps not even to bother to do that.

We should discourage the adoption of these anti-social habits in the UK, which can have downright dangerous consequences for many people.

[Marmora Man]

  Quote

that wall could fall down and kill somebody if it's not checked over by building control.

That old "precautionary principle" again. I hate it. Do you really believe that the average journeyman brickie, UK born or foreign born, cannot build a decent wall for a customer without Government or local government oversight?

[SeanMacGabhann]

I'm with Marmora Man on this

[ruffers]

Building control signing something off doesn't necessarily mean it's been built properly - you can trust me and my insurance company on that one.

[SteveT]

I built a shed in my garden and it wasn't very long before Southwark council wrote to me to say that an illegal structure had been erected and would be sending someone to check it out.

I never new planning permission was, or might be, necessary for a shed,

they (Southwark) came to visit, and the inspector of sheds arrived with a long tape and measured from the highest point of my erection down to the ground, and said that it was possibly alright but had to make sure with the director of sheds and other erections and I would get a letter.

I still have that letter as it could have instructed me to remove my erection, but in fact it said that my erection was allowed in the garden, and we all lived happily ever after.

Now my point here is, if you don't care about the wall fuggedaboutit,

but the rest of us are having to play by the rules, so what makes these people who have the audacity, temerity,

thickness of hide, and pride in their own ignorance of not knowing how to speak English, special cases.

Send a letter to the planning department asking if this is the case, that someone who does not speak English does not need planning permission and you might meet the inspector of walls, or even the director.

[Narnia]

As MM and SMcG agreed with there is no reason to think this wall will fall down and kill anyone. Therefore we can all build safe walls presumably if we feel like it. Anywhere?

[SeanMacGabhann]

Now now. I'm not suggesting no planning laws. Just application of common sense and not objecting just because something MIGHT fall down

[karter]

blimey you lot, i am european too and i have built walls. that wall the guy is building will probably last a few hundred years, but if it needs planning consent and regs....

[KalamityKel]

Remember planning and building control/regs are not the same thing... as a colleague of mine would often say "left hand and right hand".

Certainly report the construction if planning hasn't yet been granted.

[RosieH]

  Quote

...erection ... erections ... erection ... erection

... but the rest of us are having to play by the rules, so what makes these people who have the audacity, temerity,

thickness of hide, and pride in their own ignorance of not knowing how to speak English, special cases.

You said erection! *sniggers*

Bloody johnny foreigner, coming over here with his bricks and his 25 wives and his knedliky, gah...

[Narnia]

Just to clarify my original post. I have no doubt my foreign friend is working under instructions. However if he misunderstood those instructions and started building the wall before he should have, then no doubt he would be penalised if it was reported and the wall had to be taken down. As I have no objection to 'the wall' anyway, I see no reason to report it. I just wondered if there were other issues to be considered.

[Narnia]

-- moved topic --

[Santerme]

My ex mother in law bought the cottage next door to her and got all the relevant permissions to knock through and make one larger house..

She also demolished the wall between the gardens...

Being an enterprising chap, I collected the considerable amount of rubble and constructed a (if I do say so myself) rather elegant patio area and BBQ.

Of course the wall was listed as well as the properties it divided and all sorts of people turned up and promised dire consequences for the wanton destruction of an historic but rather plain wall.

I did contemplate inviting them to my house to relist the BBQ now in situ with wonderful 1790's brickwork, but thought it might put their noses out even further.

[mothernature]

Report it first thing Monday morning.

[cassidy]

> Report it first thing Monday morning.

Why because hes foreign or because he built something under instruction before everyone thinks he should have

quick call the brick police

[Narnia]

mothernature Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Report it first thing Monday morning.

Well I'm glad I didn't do this. I was wrong. Checking my facts I saw that two buildings next door to each other had applied for permission. The one where the work has been done was already granted it. The other one hasn't started yet. Oops, sorry!

[TJ]

a wall that forms part of a boundary is (I believe) exempt. A wall that forms part of a structure is not.

It all comes down to foundations. If they dug a 5ft deep hole first, its a building. If they dug a trench and filled it with concrete, its just a wall.

[happyhelen]

If you call southwark and report the wall then an enforcement notice could be issued. However, on the basis that a planning application has been submitted Southwark Council will not be required to enforce any action until this has been determined. A lot of people apply for permission retrospectively at their own risk. If planning permission isnt granted then the wall will need to be removed at the applicant's cost (subject to the outcome of any possible appeal which they could submit).

Im not sure reporting it will do much good at this stage. Best bet is to keep an eye on whether the application is approved and if not then report it.