Restoration Nightmares

[LadyArowana]

The Sun newspaper has been most disappointing recently in its news coverage, so I have had to resort to the Daily Mail to keep my finger on the pulse of happenings in old Blighty.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...mare-finally-controversial-wedding-venue.html

PS, anyone else notice the cushion?

 

[Lime]

QD?

 

[Feltwell]

I have had to resort to the Daily Mail to keep my finger on the pulse of happenings in old Blighty.

In which case you've probably concluded that the country is being overran by immigrants, that crime is out of control (and it's all the fault of the immigrants), house prices are a scandal (due to the immigrants), the lack of weekly bin collections are the biggest problem the country faces (the immigrants can only be bothered to collect them every other week), political correctness has gone mad (well you can't even say anything about the immigrants now) but it would all be OK if Princess Di was still alive (her death was probably the fault of an immigrant).

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating just a tad......

 

[Lime]

I have had to resort to the Daily Mail to keep my finger on the pulse of happenings in old Blighty.

but it would all be OK if Princess Di was still alive (her death was probably the fault of an immigrant).

His family was German originally wasn't it?

 

[Feltwell]

His family was German originally wasn't it?

Shhhh! Lady A likes elephants, I think there's one in the room.... :wink:

 

[Lime]

A casual glance suggests a whole herd.

 

[Pford75]

Well I think they should be congratulated for taking on and saving one of our period buildings that no one else wanted to save.

 

[Feltwell]

All the stuff about PP being needed to live in it as a home and that being so difficult to obtain, if true, does seem rather ridiculous - when it was so obviously constructed as and has spent most of it's life as a home.

But I suspect there is much more to this than what has been reported, with it would appear something of a disregard for both the necessary permissions to operate as a wedding venue and LBC. I suspect that an awful lot of their problems with officaldom have been self-induced, which is particularly poor for someone who is supposed to be a "property expert".

However - broadly - I have to agree, well done to them for saving a building that otherwise looked like it had a very bleak future.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

I'm not sure I'd disagree with any of that. Though am I right in recalling that they've actually owned it for about 10 years? which begs some other questions about the implied "saving something nobody else wanted to".

 

[Moo]

I'm sure you're right, Gareth, but I seem to remember that it had been unoccupied and on the market for quite a time before they bought it.

 

[mr-squirrel]

But I suspect there is much more to this than what has been reported, with it would appear something of a disregard for both the necessary permissions to operate as a wedding venue and LBC. I suspect that an awful lot of their problems with officaldom have been self-induced, which is particularly poor for someone who is supposed to be a "property expert".

Totally agree, on a number of occasions she was acting like a stroppy kid when she couldn't get her own way. And there was the planning consultant they brought in who had apparently never seen a dispute like this in his career. She definitley needs a few lessons in diplomacy and to respect authority that could make things very difficult otherwise. Just goes to show what happens when emotion gets involved, understandable though as a project to sell on and your own home (and dreams) are two very different things.

I can easily see her type of character rubbing up a planning department the wrong way, the application coming under more and more scrutiny resulting in everything slowing to a glacial pace.

Still was good fun watching, and what an amazing project. The sheer effort they put in has to be commended, not many people have the money and insanity to take on something like that.

 

[middi]

I am not absolutely sure that one needs a lot of money and insanity to take on what appears to be a " doomed" project, mr-squirrel

A few of us on this site are heavily reliant on just insanity

Middi

 

[MatthewC]

I thought that there was a 28 day rule, which says that you don't need planning permission for any use which is for less than 28 days in a year? This is how all those Sunday markets operate, I think. So unless the Beenies planned to hold more than 28 weddings in a year, surely they didn't need planning permission anyway?

 

[Pford75]

I can easily see her type of character rubbing up a planning department the wrong way, the application coming under more and more scrutiny resulting in everything slowing to a glacial pace.

"Glacial pace" would be a dramatic speed increase for some planning departments. In a previous house, we had been awarded LBC, but with a clause requiring approval of the paint colour we intended to use on rainwater goods. We chose black. Due to maternity leave for for CO and no one else seemingly willing to make a decision, it was more than 11 weeks before our 'colour' was approved. Meanwhile, we had just decided to paint it anyway.

 

[MatthewC]

I can easily see her type of character rubbing up a planning department the wrong way, the application coming under more and more scrutiny resulting in everything slowing to a glacial pace.

"Glacial pace" would be a dramatic speed increase for some planning departments. In a previous house, we had been awarded LBC, but with a clause requiring approval of the paint colour we intended to use on rainwater goods. We chose black. Due to maternity leave for for CO and no one else seemingly willing to make a decision, it was more than 11 weeks before our 'colour' was approved. Meanwhile, we had just decided to paint it anyway.

We had the CO allow our LBC application but specify stupid conditions such as asking us to submit the exact type of the type of woodburning stove, even though the original application said it would be 4.5kW matt black cast iron with a sample photo. Also, we were having a double sash window made for us and the CO contacted the manufacturer to argue about the size of the central mullion and needed to be told "it has to be that size for the internal structure and the TWO weights"! The other favourite trick was to specify as a condition something that we'd put in the application that we were doing anyway, e.g. cast iron rain water goods, or Welsh slate to match existing, or re-use existing brick or Cotswold stone, etc. I suppose it makes them feel good.

We got all the permissions in the end, but, like you, we went ahead anyway as we couldn't wait for them.

 

[mr-squirrel]

We got all the permissions in the end, but, like you, we went ahead anyway as we couldn't wait for them.

A colleague of mine frequently refers to them as Tin Gods