So typical of croydon council planners to approve such ugly large developments in a quiet residential area. Heather Cheesbrough was in charge when Planning Policy SPD2 was written. It's how to get the most out of everything nearby. 8 Mint Walk Emails from residents unanswered, six-month delays in dealing with a formal complaint, and a planning department that ignored a court order. Emails from residents unanswered, six-month delays in dealing with a formal complaint, and a planning department that ignored a court order. The council said it would reply before the end of December. Although, as this website appears to have put my actual name, rather than the alias as I thought it would, I should add that this is just informal advice and you may wish to get your own professional planning or legal advice. A brand new Croydon library could be sold off before it's even been used; Read More Related Articles. Most councils have yet to confirm plans, with about a third indicating they may propose a 3% increase. But lawyers who get fees from boundary disputes will oppose this, Having reliable and continuously updated INTERNAL plans of all properties should also be an additional (but separate) part of fire safety improvement post Grenfell. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. We didnt and were still waiting. Youre having a larf. You could use a mediation service if raising the issue informally does not . The independent Reports into Croydon council to include the ARK Report are very clear. It has provided no explanation or audit trail for what happened in the seven months between Ms Zs agent maintaining she had provided the correct certificate and the council issuing its decision. This issue is so important, decent housing is a basic human right, surely. I got quite a waft from the other side of the road as it hit the ground. After the Croydon housing scandal had led the News At Ten on Monday night, the council published the following statement, "Croydon Council has launched an urgent inquiry into conditions caused by water leaks at a council high-rise block in the borough. If people in the social housing sector are treating tenants like that they just lose all hope that anyone is ever going to treat them well. They went to the High Court and in April 2018 obtained a court order which confirmed this. The other key Legislation is the Party Wall Act , affecting construction on and near boundaries. Hide, Send feedback directly to the content team using our website feedback form. If you feel that these rules are not being adhered to, you are advised to contact the council for guidance/to make a complaint. When the council finally got round to replying to the Council Tax-payer, it claimed that the court orders gained by Mr X and Mr Y were immaterial to its consideration of the planning application. Hewitt rightly highlights the work of three ITV News producers on the South Norwood report and others subsequently: Sophie Alexander, Imogen Barrer, Sarah OConnell. We do not provide anout of hours service for complaints about parties. Putting aside the likely unauthorised blocking of the highway, the demolition works were in direct breach of Condition 5 of the permission, which required the submission and approval of a Construction Logistics Plan before development commenced. Follow these steps if you have a dispute with your neighbour. Boston Borough Council said it initially received a noise complaint about "a number of cockerels crowing" at a property in Wyberton West Road. This latest Ombudsmans decision against Cheesbroughs department would appear to contradict that contention. croydon council complaints about neighbours. Public Realm Division, Pollution Team, 6th Floor, Zone A Bernard Weatherill House Mr X also contacted Ms Z directly asking her to stop the trespass. Although dated February 16 2021, the relevant unilateral undertaking was only published by the council on May 18, almost three months later. It seems like this website loves to stick the boot in on the Croydon Planning Department. If it ever re-opens, perhaps buying a ticket to an event there would entitle the ticketholder to go and throw things at the prisoners in the dungeon ?! Attribution. He is supported in his complaint by Mr Y. Further council plans to make the town greener include an electric bicycles hire scheme. Croydon council's housing department operated with "a poor operating culture with a lack of care and respect for tenants" resulting in accommodation being left in terrible conditions, a . The old/new normal , About time councils were made accountable for their mistakes too many times have lawyers with get out of jail free card. A Croydon Council spokesman said: "We apologise for any harm caused to the couple in this instance. The court granted this in January 2020, the Ombudsmans report states. Unlawful: the destruction of the trees on the Hyde Road site broke the planning conditions. But at least shes no longer claiming to be a chartered landscape architect so thats nice. CR0 1EA. He thinks he is smarter than law he know law order more than anyone. The Council confirmed that the developer must have served notice before making the planning application. You can also join our user research group to receive invites to activities and surveys to help shape future improvements to the site. Ms Z partially removed two of the three stanchions and left the third one standing complete. I always tell people that planning permission does not automatically grant permission to build it is just one piece of the jigsaw. Inside Croydon understands that council tenants affected by the neglect and disrepair of their homes had not been given the courtesy of first sight of the report.. Councillor Ali - who, after six weeks, has yet to fulfil her promise to meet in person . Class B means of access to a highway. London. It is not clear the council gave any further consideration to the certification issue before January 2020 when it determined the application. By November last year, Mr X made a formal complaint. More importantly though, it not been NOT APPROVED. It was dated February 22 2021, three months after the committee meeting. Complaints Management; Contact Us; Coronavirus (COVID-19) Corporate Plan; Croydon Shire Planning Scheme; . I got neighbour from hell and Croydon council dont wish to do anything. Posted. If your neighbours complain to the Council, you may find the Environmental Protection department writing to you asking you to take action to avoid causing a nuisance. There was understandable disgust and anger, from the Riddlesdown RA members as well as the long-suffering Newlands, that the council had left it so long before introducing this new excuse for the already totally unacceptable and disrespectful delays. Thursday to Sunday. The decision notice on the 89 Hyde Road block of flats was signed off by the councils head of development management, Nicola Townsend. Mr X has previously gone to court and won orders declaring Ms Z has built on his land and entitling him to remove structures built there. The aim of the charity is to support local residents who are concerned about crime such as burglary, scams and anti social behaviour. Which is what makes this ruling, published yesterday, all the more extraordinary in its criticism of the council planners incompetence and lack of professionalism. COMPLAINT 202011660. The complaints process - Stage 1 Once your complaint is received, the relevant department will aim to deal with it as quickly as possible. Overgrown & Messy Gardens! As we read it, the inclusion of the bracketed text effectively means that the contribution could be spent on anything, without restriction and not necessarily even within Sanderstead. The Inner West Comprehensive Development Control Plan (DCP) 2016 for Ashbury, Ashfield, Croydon, Croydon Park, Haberfield, Hurlstone Park and Summer Hill came into effect on on 10 January 2017.. Find a propertis in Croydon, London on Gumtree, the #1 site for Residential Property To Rent classifieds ads in the UK. The proposal includes the unacceptable felling of eight individual trees and five groups of trees as well as substantial areas of mature hedging, Hale told the committee. For more information, please see our Corporate Complaints Policy (PDF, 234.68 KB). It was not as if the councils planners had not been on notice about the on-going boundary dispute. The tenant attended court on November 29, but However, this work must be done at reasonable times and should not cause nuisance to neighbours. If you could bottle the dignity and resilience of the people weve spoken to and sell it, youd make a lot of money, because they have to put up with so much more than most people, Hewitt told Inside Housing. If it's an incident that has already happened and doesn't need an immediate response, call the national Police non-emergency number, 101. We will also ask you to keep a record of the noise and how it affects you on diary sheets for a few days or weeks, depending on how often the noise occurs . see https://www.gov.uk/party-walls-building-works. having more team managers respond to complaints. Re Mr Patels comments above, it is actually frightening as to how much of the plot that can be filled up with sheds, under what is termed permitted development under The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Worth looking up the UK Government Website, under its pages titled:- Meanwhile, for a while at least, and albeit it across a demolition site, the Newlands can enjoy an improved view of the greenery to the south. The ruling stems from a long-running boundary dispute between three neighbours, where one of them started to build a garage on land that they do not own. The sight of a damaged or slowly rusting car can also be an . Complaint Resolution Team Croydon Council, Floor 7 Zone C Bernard Weatherill House 8 Mint Walk, Croydon CR0 1EA or email us at: [email protected] Croydon Council Bernard Weatherill House 8 Mint Walk Croydon, CR0 1EA; We are open for pre-booked appointments only Communal cleaning: The landlord explained that the caretaker was scheduled to attend weekly on a Monday COMPLAINT 202006413. Cheesbrough tried to jump ship, failed, and now she wants to stay at Croydon, and carry on mismanaging planning. The Ombudsmans report says, I have called the complainant Mr X. Also, with workloads the way they are nationally most Planning Officers simply dont have the time to deal with things as closely as they would like. In the interests of openness, I have worked for 2 Council Planning Departments (not in London). Not if the latest development fiasco in Riddlesdown is anything to go by, says STEVE WHITESIDE. The report discussed the perceived planning merits of the application and found no reason to refuse it.. Why havent they been made to stop work? Dont include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details. . The council generally adopts an escalating approach to noise enforcement and can deal with unreasonable . Putting aside the likely unauthorised blocking of the highway, the demolition works were in direct breach of Condition 5 of the permission, which required the submission and approval of a "Construction Logistics Plan" before development commenced. The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/596/contents, particularly as set out under SCHEDULE 2 For all customer service enquiries go to @ContactCroydon. The council could serve an order on your neighbour to fix the problem. Location. Local groceries, essential shops, parks and other amenities nearby. There is a process under which registered owners can obtain definitive boundaries from the Registry but at a cost, With building plots becoming ever smaller and in need of precision and cartographic technology advancing there is a strong argument for a national survey giving reliable boundaries to all plots of land. Why are they still working on the site? Fifteen million Brits plan to celebrate the Queens 70-year reign wi Normally a Councillors mail bag is full of important, but not life threatening, mail and emails regarding missed bin collections, planning issues and complaints about noisy neighbours. Its time there was a full investigation into the relationships between developers, members of the Council and Councillors. To contact us, please email [email protected], Help to support our genuine local and independent journalism, Purley Way kitchen showroom has special offers this weekend, Planning department judged at fault over boundary dispute. 3 1 March 2021. Drainage is really important here; it is becoming increasing concerning that the foul water sewers in Riddlesdown are carrying more water than they are designed for and as a result areas downhill from here are suffering frequent episodes of flooding, often foul water and sewage. That hardly chimes with the boast of . Deliberate delays by council officials in the processing of a formal complaint from a couple in their 90s has helped allow the unlawful demolition of a family home in Sanderstead and the start of development of a block of flats, in breach of planning permission. I note that at no point in the application did Ms Z present a plan showing the footprint of the garage in relation to the property boundaries or surrounding land. If you are experiencing ant-social behaviour there are many organisations which can help, depending on the situation: If you are a Housing Association tenant, please report the issues to your Housing Association. Some of her neighbours had been lodging similar complaints to the council's housing department and Axis for four years. And there are worrying signs that little has yet changed. As Inside Housing puts it, Many residents in the block and in another across the road had repeatedly complained Two years continuous noise nuisance, making life unbearable for a neighbour undergoing chemotherapy, has ended with a three-month closure order on an Upper Norwood flat. The hardest part of being at Croydon council is the uncertainty when there are cuts in budget or changes to services. It confirmed it had written to the neighbour after the residents initial report of him urinating down the drain and the tenancy team would continue to monitor the area. Croydon man furious at neighbour having tree cutter over at 9am because it's 'ruined his lie in' Stop what you're doing and check out these cats that looks like vampires Whether its unconsciously, there is potentially this culture thats seeped in of we dont need to rush this and thats a really dangerous conclusion to come to. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. No care or accountability. Updated 16:31, 17 OCT 2022. As many as 450,000 complaints are investigated each year by councils. Permitted development rights, PART 1 Development within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse The report said that a planning permission would not define the property boundaries. Find a studio-flat in South East London, London on Gumtree, the #1 site for Residential Property To Rent classifieds ads in the UK. Ultimately it seems very like a boundary dispute between neighbours and Planning Departments are not best placed to become involved. All bad enough, you might think, but there was more to come on the day, this time from the council. If we receive a complaint from you about neighbours playing loud music, we will send a letter to the alleged offender(s) asking them to keep the volume down. I knew nothing about the development I found out afterwards by way of a backdated letter. Yet when it comes to using HRA money to improve the living conditions of existing council tenants, officials at Fishers Folly seem remarkably reluctant. Water leaked from lights and into sockets, leading her to unplug her fridge to avoid electrocution., And reporter Hewitt said, Walking into that flat and seeing not just appalling, squalid conditions, but the fact that it was quite obviously dangerous and Fransoy was living there with her two little boys., The most angry I have ever been: reporter Dan Hewitt with council tenant Fransoy Hewitt in Regina Road in March. I asked Will anything be done to enforce what has been approved here, or is the developer to be given free rein? We are committed to making our website accessible to all visitors. And as the Ombudsman points out, It also says that anyone who knowingly or recklessly issues a false or misleading certificate is guilty of an offence.. As a last resort you can take legal action through the courts. This time, through a relatively minor boundary dispute between neighbours, the Ombudsman has exposed massive levels of incompetence in the councils planning department. Woman completes National Trust scone-eating project. Removed all the trees they were not going to move !!! United Kingdom, NEW Help improve this site by This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg). Nice move Robert!