Vale couple go to tribunal to keep their in and out gates
Friday 16th July 2010, 2:29PM BST.
The Perretts are fighting to keep the gateway on the left of this picture. (0998080)
A COUPLE are hoping a planning tribunal will allow them to keep a second entrance to their property.
Without planning permission, Michael and Annelouise Perrett created an access by knocking through the southern end of the granite boundary wall of Brightelmston, La Mazotte.
Three applications for retrospective planning permission were rejected, the most recent in November.
Previously, the property had only one entrance and exit through an access in the north end. The couple, who have lived there for 22 years, said their appeal centred on the extra entrance improving road safety.
However, Environment’s director of planning control services, Jim Rowles, representing the department, said that a traffic services report stated the access would not offer substantial traffic safety to the community.
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Haven’t we got far more important issues to address then a hole in a wall which is in reality so trivial as to beggar belief?
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Peter Niven
It looks quite stylish in the photo.Good luck to them
The big unforgivable sin here is that they didn’t seek permission. If they had they would probably have had it rubber stamped as a good idea
Remember the daffodil walk on the South coast?I doubt that one person on the island would have said no to that venture but the jobsworths need to hold on to that little bit of power of granting permission.They do that by punishing people who break their rules no matter how sensible the project is
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Peter Niven
Maybe not a very newsworthy article, but is it that you think its ok to just disregard planning laws?
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I have never understood why bureaucrats take the right to decide about people’s properties. If those people wish a second entrance it’s up to them and not to civil servants.
The same ridiculous thing is when people on Alderney have to apply for a satelite dish and have to pay £35 for the application. That is legalised stealing money from people’s pockets.
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Fair point Simon but I do find it amusingly ironic that most of the time Environment is nabbing people for building things, and here we have someone getting into trouble for knocking something down!
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teresa – it is not up to owners to bang out entrances to their properties in the same way that it is not up to them to bang out lots of other alterations to their propeties, without permission. if there was no planning law there would be no front boundary walls at all on the island and if you want to know how ugly and awful that looks, try the taxi ride from southampton airport to their hospital. the planning laws seem petty but there has to be a line in the sand. actually in this case the property seems big enough to handle two entrances but everyone bar the arrogant or daft know you need to get permission. i assume you are an estate agent – years ago i looked to buy a beautiful elongated cottage in a tiny vale lane with no parking (the stone boundary walls were integral to the balance and beauty of the stone cottage) but the spiv estate agent advised we simply knock a parking space through the wall with a digger and ‘no one will notice in this lane’. the price of everything, the value of nothing.
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Did anyone notice the reason Environment has given for forcing Le Coq du Nord to remove a blackboard advertising breakfasts from within their car park?
Wait for it …… it threatened road safety !
This is the same department who in the same week claimed that the Forest School crossing is the best it can be
Take this to a tribunal Mr Smyth and embarrass this bunch of nincompoops into the real world
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Ray
The thing is it could have fallen on a passing car,or maybe a bus or lorry could have clipped it with its wing mirror as it passed on the pavement, or an unsuspecting customer could have driven into it whilst trying to park,or maybe someone from environment drove past and didnt like it…..
I guess I know which one your money would be on!!
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