Dropped kerb planning rejected due to RPA

[Chris at eden]

On 15/12/2021 at 23:39, john87 said:

The "policy" they mention.. Does this have any basis in law??? What i mean is, a council could not for instance insist that people could only cut down trees with a Husqvarna saw, as this would clearly have no basis in law.. Upon which laws would he council seek to rely?? [out of interest]

 

john..

Councils can and do make decisions in accordance with adopted policies.  

[Chris at eden]

On 16/12/2021 at 08:05, tree77 said:

With our local authority you only need a planning application if its a classified road, otherwise is just a vehicle cross over application.

Or if you intend to discharge surface water off site by grading the drive into the street, or into a standard storm water drain. 
 

[john87]

2 minutes ago, Chris at eden said:

Councils can and do make decisions in accordance with adopted policies.  

They can yes, but they cannot have "blanket" decisions nor can they act in an ultra vires fashion.. Councils do a lot of things that they have no power to do and totally ignore legal duties plased upon them too..

 

john..

[Chris at eden]

On 15/12/2021 at 22:50, Gajendra said:

Apparently there is a new legislation where you have to build a soakaway in your drive plus you have to build your drive before council builds the dropped kerb. On this street there are 91 houses and 89 of them have dropped kerb which is why I am a little annoyed. 

Soak-aways under drives are not straight forward.  They can’t be in RPAs or within 5m of a house. Building regs. It’s easier to make them drive porous or grade it into a border so surface water stays onsite. 
 

[Chris at eden]

5 minutes ago, john87 said:

They can yes, but they cannot have "blanket" decisions nor can they act in an ultra vires fashion.. Councils do a lot of things that they have no power to do and totally ignore legal duties plased upon them too..

 

john..

It’s not a blanket decision. They have given RPA dimensions. They have clearly looked at the details.  You can’t put in a crossover without lowering levels and this may damage the trees.  
 

[Chris at eden]

On 16/12/2021 at 10:08, openspaceman said:

This is true plus you may park across your own dropped kerb and still deny this to others

I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to park in front of a dropped kerb even if it fronts your own drive. 

[openspaceman]

21 minutes ago, Chris at eden said:

I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to park in front of a dropped kerb even if it fronts your own drive. 

The highway code only specifies "

• where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles"

And also "in front of an entrance to a property"

 

In practice parking on your own dropped kerb is not enforced unless there are other restrictions. Parking in front of someone else's dropped kerb would soon result in them calling the police to remove the obstruction.

 

 

[john87]

1 hour ago, Chris at eden said:

It’s not a blanket decision. They have given RPA dimensions. They have clearly looked at the details.  You can’t put in a crossover without lowering levels and this may damage the trees.  
 

Well that is fair enough, if they have actually gone out and measured, then that is a different matter. Is there a law though that says you cannot build near trees??

 

john..

[Chris at eden]

4 minutes ago, john87 said:

Well that is fair enough, if they have actually gone out and measured, then that is a different matter. Is there a law though that says you cannot build near trees??

 

john..

Trees are a material consideration within the planning system.  That’s about as close as you will get to there being a law.  Section 197 of the town and country planning act 1990 places a duty on local authorities to protect and plant trees in the face of development.  Thats not the exact wording but pretty close. 
 

cheers 

 

Chris 

 

[Chris at eden]

56 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

The highway code only specifies "

• where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles"

And also "in front of an entrance to a property"

 

In practice parking on your own dropped kerb is not enforced unless there are other restrictions. Parking in front of someone else's dropped kerb would soon result in them calling the police to remove the obstruction.

 

 

I remember years ago a resident getting a ticket for obstructing her own dropped kerb. Someone had complained to the council and they issued a ticket. Apparently she used to complain to the police about people parking outside her house on the school run. I’m guessing they were getting their own back. Apparently it’s not that uncommon or so I was told by highways.