period drama
Member
- Messages
- 1
- Location
- Oxfordshire
Hi all,
After a bit of advice on dealing with our heritage officer who has been nothing short of an a nightmare. Renovating a cottage, replacing unsuitable modern finishes, replacing a poorly built extension and dodgy layout alterations from the 60s and rebuilding an outbuilding that's falling down. Nothing contentious and no objections from LA but from start to finish she has been horrendous. First visit (after PP deadline had been and gone) she said a wall identified in our heritage asset report as modern, might not be and she wanted further investigation (just tapping it, it was obviously modern studwork) and she also made us dig down at the foot of our boundary wall to check for foundation (we aren't doing any work to that and if we were l, surely it's for a structural engineer to make those checks??) Then we had to do a stone sample. She refused to tell us what she wanted but had us build sample after sample (1 metre squared each time and then wait weeks for a visit). She didn't want the mortar matched the existing house or any of the listed buildings around us. We asked for a picture of the colour she wanted...nope. eventually said she was happy with colour but wanted no cement in the mix- it's on a brand new extension. I said fine, but the colour would alter so would we need to do another sample. She said she had seen no evidence that altering the mix would alter the colour! She then said she wanted the stone to cast no shadow on the mortar (its uncalibrated stone so getting a uniform, flush finish is impossible) she wants the mortar brushed back to show the aggregate, but no brush marks and she also wants it flush with the stone face. I emailed her for clarification (I promise I was completely polite) and she said she wasn't prepared to discuss it with me. She asked for a glass section in the roof but when we went out for tender, no one would take on the job because of the size and angles required so we have had to go back to ask for an amendment. Again they are happy in principle, but about every 3 weeks she asks for more details (latest is relating to thermal bridging and flue position which im pretty sire is for regs, not her) I don't mind her wanting more info but she takes 3 weeks to ask for each new bit instead of asking for everything in one go. Our conditions remain undischarged from June despite no issues. We have renovated 5 listed properties and never had anything like this and our architect specialises in LB and says this is the worst he has ever experienced by a significant margin. I'm not sure what we can do if anything, but the cottage is in such a state and we can't even get it water tight as we aren't allowed to begin work until conditions discharged (it's derelict, insecure and structurally unsound so really stressful).
After a bit of advice on dealing with our heritage officer who has been nothing short of an a nightmare. Renovating a cottage, replacing unsuitable modern finishes, replacing a poorly built extension and dodgy layout alterations from the 60s and rebuilding an outbuilding that's falling down. Nothing contentious and no objections from LA but from start to finish she has been horrendous. First visit (after PP deadline had been and gone) she said a wall identified in our heritage asset report as modern, might not be and she wanted further investigation (just tapping it, it was obviously modern studwork) and she also made us dig down at the foot of our boundary wall to check for foundation (we aren't doing any work to that and if we were l, surely it's for a structural engineer to make those checks??) Then we had to do a stone sample. She refused to tell us what she wanted but had us build sample after sample (1 metre squared each time and then wait weeks for a visit). She didn't want the mortar matched the existing house or any of the listed buildings around us. We asked for a picture of the colour she wanted...nope. eventually said she was happy with colour but wanted no cement in the mix- it's on a brand new extension. I said fine, but the colour would alter so would we need to do another sample. She said she had seen no evidence that altering the mix would alter the colour! She then said she wanted the stone to cast no shadow on the mortar (its uncalibrated stone so getting a uniform, flush finish is impossible) she wants the mortar brushed back to show the aggregate, but no brush marks and she also wants it flush with the stone face. I emailed her for clarification (I promise I was completely polite) and she said she wasn't prepared to discuss it with me. She asked for a glass section in the roof but when we went out for tender, no one would take on the job because of the size and angles required so we have had to go back to ask for an amendment. Again they are happy in principle, but about every 3 weeks she asks for more details (latest is relating to thermal bridging and flue position which im pretty sire is for regs, not her) I don't mind her wanting more info but she takes 3 weeks to ask for each new bit instead of asking for everything in one go. Our conditions remain undischarged from June despite no issues. We have renovated 5 listed properties and never had anything like this and our architect specialises in LB and says this is the worst he has ever experienced by a significant margin. I'm not sure what we can do if anything, but the cottage is in such a state and we can't even get it water tight as we aren't allowed to begin work until conditions discharged (it's derelict, insecure and structurally unsound so really stressful).
