LBC Concern

[Mickey]

Hi All,

We are in the process or applying for LBC to install central heating in our old school building. We are applying re the siting of the oil tank and the vertical flue both of which will be at the back of our building and will not be visible from the front or in any way ..unless you are in our garden. I can't call or email our CO for advice because they do not respond and will only give me advice if I pay another £150 yes I realise we should have mentioned this when they visited. Flue will be exiting out of the roof of our utility room at the back which is not original to the main school building but was added on at some point do you think we will have a problem with the consent I am very concerned they might ask that we have the boiler somewhere else i.e externally which would mean our budget being blown and us not being able to have the cast iron column rads which I am desperate to have but will look amazing in our building and have already nearly blown the budget! Yes in an ideal world we would be going eco but ground source not an option we still have the playground where some bright spark turfed over the top, neither is air source and we have no mains gas in the village but main source of heating is a 12kw stove so we are not entirely reliant on the oil, having spent 1k on electricity (night stores and emersion for hot water only) in the our first year we are desperate to get rid of electric heating. Does a CO look at every single LBC application or does this just go through the Parish council? Sorry I know I should know this!

many thanks
Mickey

 

[MatthewC]

This application sounds pretty standard, and I don't see why you think they might want to make your boiler external, but a lot depends on your CO. Bitter experience...

Does a CO look at every single LBC application or does this just go through the Parish council? Sorry I know I should know this!

I'd be surprised if a CO didn't look at every LBC application! Is the Parish Council the Planning Authority? I would think you mean District Council. The CO (and the Parish Council, and anyone else with an interest) will advise the Planning Department, who will make the decision.

 

[Roger H]

Very frustrating that a Planning Authority would charge for CO advice like that. I'd have expected that if there was a charge, and you had already paid it, that it would cover further development of the scheme - not a charge per call out.

It is likely that the CO would be consulted on each application by the Development Control officer, unless the CO handles all the caseload themselves. Where they respond in detail to each consultation is a different matter.

My inclination would be to get an LBC application in (no fee) for oil tank and flue, located on the most discreet elevation with minimal impact on the significance of the building. As Matthew says, it does not look like your proposal is particularly outlandish or likely to have reasonable grounds for refusal. If it hits stony ground and looks like it may garner a refusal, make sure it goes to committee and ask to speak. You always have the right of appeal if it is refused.

 

[Mickey]

Thank you both for your helpful replies yes sorry I mean't Dist. Council. Postscript at bottom of our written advice from CO visit states any further advice will incur a further charge! I have found the whole process rather demoralising not to mention expensive but partly my fault for not thinking it through but then on the other hand we had not experienced a winter in the property when we arranged our call out. I think I am just being overly sensitive and as you say both, where we want to site the tank etc has no visual impact from the road or even from behind since we are lower down, behind a high wall and far enough away from other properties and there is no public road behind so fingers crossed it should all go through ok. We will not require any drilling to get into the main house with pipes from utility since there is already access for other pipes so as far as I can make out no actual impact to the fabric involved either...our floors are all chipboard apart from thin soft orange stained pine in the main school room so no prob there either...people that converted it in the 80's when it was not listed prob ripped out some lovely boards amongst other things

Any further words of comfort from CO's on here would be very welcome sorry Roger H if you are a CO.

Thanks again
Mickey

 

[Penners]

I'm certainly not a CO but, to play Devil's Advocate for a moment, I would find it difficult to criticise the decision of the Planning Dept to charge you for further advice. As you said, you failed to include this detail in your original discussion with them, and their additional advice would represent a cost to the Council Taxpayer.

However, I can only say that, in your shoes, I would be fairly relaxed about applying for this additional consent. It doesn't sound controversial.

 

[Roger H]

Fair enough Penners, but I reckon the cost to the taxpayer in schemes that go forward without sound pre-application advice have a far greater cost in officer time, poor schemes having to go to committee that could otherwise be decided by delegated powers, and schemes taken to appeal.
Charging for that advice makes it less likely that pre-application discussions will take place, or that specialist advice will be sought.

 

[Mickey]

Many thanks Penners I do see your point but it's the lack of continuity of the service across Local Authorities that frustrates me, when I read about other people being able to call or email their CO's directly to discuss things which of course do crop up/occur to them as they work through their projects.

I am feeling less concerned about it thanks to all your posts, which I really appreciate. This forum is a constant source of excellent and sound advice so many thanks.

Mickey

 

[Flyfisher]

I can understand the frustration involved but it's probably there on both sides of the LBC fence. COs seem to be under increasing pressure these days, some councils don't even employ full-time COs, so councils charge for advice, some don't - and all that is before we even consider the variations between COs around the country. So, pretty much a recipe for frustration when we're talking about people's homes, time and money.

Mickey has made a good case in the above description of the proposed works and how they should not be to the detriment of the property. If the LBC application included the same sort of description, rationale and impact of the proposed works - together with photographs and/or diagrams as appropriate - then I'd like to think the application would be granted.

If the CO has not visited the property before then any application should be written on the assumption they know nothing about the property. So, a basic application to "relocate a boiler flue" will not give them enough information to decide on the application without further enquiries and, perhaps, a site visit. However, a detailed explanation of the proposed work (similar to Mickey's above description) stating the reasons for the work and how the impact on the property will be minimised, etc, will enable the CO to make a more informed judgement, possibly without requiring a site visit.

Basically, imagine yourself in the CO's position and do everything possible to help them fully understand what you're trying to do for the well-being of the property.