Incorrect advice has landed City of York planners in hot water from the Local Government Ombudsman after a complaint over the guidance given for a renovation scheme on a Georgian terraced property. This resulted in the resident putting in a square bay window instead of the bow-shaped one she preferred.
The resident complained to the watchdog that the council gave her wrong advice when she was renovating her property. It advised that planning permission was required for alterations to her front bay window, and that permission would only be granted for a square bay rather than the bow-shaped window she preferred, so that her house matched the neighbouring property (which had a square bay window). But then the owner of the adjacent property carried out renovations to his property including a bow-shaped bay window at the front.
The Ombudsman found maladministration causing injustice. His report said: “[The complainant’s] injustice resides in not being able to implement her approved scheme at the time she wished to do so; and then having the chagrin of seeing a neighbour install the window that she had been told needed, and would be refused, planning permission. She now faces the prospect of carrying out her approved scheme some years later and at a much greater cost.” The Ombudsman concluded that the council’s advice was incorrect and it was reasonable for the complainant to have relied on it. Had the council advised her correctly she would have been able to pursue her original plans of a bow-shaped bay window.
The Ombudsman has recommended that York City Council pay the reasonable costs of installing the bay window of the resident’s choice. The watchdog also said the planning authority should pay the complainant £250 for her time and trouble in pursuing the case.
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/professionals/en/1115316690237.html
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