Since the first peek at the Courtyard plans late last year we are still at the Council approval stage.
My 1st attempt at fluttering my eyelashes and lodging the plans with the Council for approval were knocked back as they needed more details.
The 2nd attempt we provided copies of the Garage Extension plans they approved a year ago as these showed more detailed drawings of the house and land elevation. We also had to submit a Building Application form and pay a fee.
Since then for the last few weeks we've had our fingers crossed hoping to hear from the Council soon as the legislation has recently changed and the Council need to respond within 25 days. I know this must put pressure on them but it is a relief to know we aren't just waiting for months (or up to a year as we did for the Garage Extension).
Well no news is good news as they say because the Council told us last week the fence doesn't meet requirements and we need to send in drawings giving more detail of the height of the retaining walls and fence. We also need to lodge another Building Application form and pay another fee.
So our 3rd attempt has us doing just that, we'll draw on the plans the heights and re-submit them together with a form and more money honey.
Here lies our problem - the angle of where the house sits means
the fence is high on some sides and low on the other
That's one hell of a slippery slope!
Courtyard you will be built one day soon - I promise!
The staff at the Council are actually really helpful and I understand that they need to tick their boxes before giving approvals, but it is still frustrating from our side because we just want to start building.
Not one to be defeated here comes Plan C!
[All images my own]
The red tape in this country is second to none. Except possibly France. Arrrrgh
ReplyDeleteCarolyn
Are you guys planning to level out the front?
ReplyDeleteAren't you good! We didn't seek council approval before we got our 1.8 metre high fence put up out the front!! We found a fence guy, told him what we wanted and he put it up for us.
ReplyDeleteI did briefly think about seeking council approval but hey, we face a 2 metre fence directly across from us [the original owners flipped their house, so that their backyard was where everyone elses front yard is, it totally looks ridiculous and stands out a mile at the bottom of the street when you're looking up] so I figured if they let them get away with THAT fence, we'd have no problems should they come a knockin!
I hope you eventually get your plans passed honey!
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