Landowners
How neighbours are consulted on planning applications, common valid objections, and three London case studies on building good neighbour relations.
Kisiel Group
21 September 2021
What are the neighbours like around your next development? You probably won’t know until you apply for planning. Most schemes attract few valid objections, but what do you do when the comments are unreasonable? Here is how to build good neighbour relations.
Adjoining neighbours are notified when you submit your application and usually have 21 days to comment to the case officer, in support or in objection.
As well as neighbour letters, a site notice is often displayed so anyone in the road can comment. Larger schemes may be advertised in the local paper, and all details are on the council’s website.
Others may also be consulted, including parish or community councils, local groups, the highway authority and the council’s tree officer.
It is always best to get neighbours on side. Talk to them before submitting and be ready to discuss the details. They may raise valid points you can accommodate, which smooths the process.
It is much better that neighbours don’t first hear of your plans from the council. If you approach them early, they feel consulted. Keep them informed as the application progresses. Even where you can’t agree on everything, early engagement shows the case officer you are listening to local residents.
For a four-storey block of apartments, the developer first contacted every resident in the street to explain the proposal: well-designed family apartments in a car-free scheme. The response was positive, because the scrubland site had become a dumping ground for fly-tipping and a home for rats.
Some residents were worried about parking, but bike stores were provided and new residents would join car clubs. The mix of two and three bedroom flats, ideal for young families, appealed to many neighbours.
Two objections raised daylight and sunlight, overlooking, loss of open space and parking. The developer submitted a daylight and sunlight study and had built privacy measures into the design. With local support, the council found the scheme would not unduly affect neighbours’ light, outlook, noise or privacy. Planning was granted.
Constructive communication helps, but some objections are valid and need to be addressed:
Sometimes neighbours organise, with petitions, co-ordinated emails to the council and landowner, involvement of the local MP, or a planning consultant of their own. Case officers give more weight to objections grounded in planning considerations.
Residents formed an action group and submitted many co-ordinated objections to a scheme of four houses. The planning committee considered the principle of development, the mix and density, living conditions for future residents, the effect on neighbours and the character of the area, traffic and highway safety, trees, noise and pollution, and sustainability.
Despite vocal opposition, permission was granted, because no material considerations warranted refusal.
Opposition does not always stop at planning, and it can cause real cost and delay during construction, so improving relations matters.
On another West London scheme, residents who had opposed the application complained at every opportunity once work began. Parking was tight, and without their co-operation the contractor had to apply for temporary yellow lines on the narrow street for deliveries, adding cost and delay and reducing parking further. Tensions peaked when residents turned out at 5am to block delivery of a large piling rig, despite having been told in advance.
The contractor held a meeting where every resident could be heard, appointed a senior manager as their direct contact to deal with each concern promptly, and hand-delivered a regular newsletter updating the street at each stage. Good communication turned things around, and the build continued without further incidents.
Keep communication open even when you disagree. You won’t always be able to meet every request because of time or cost, but where compromise is possible it smooths the way and lets you focus on progressing the development.
Tell us about it. You will speak to the people who make the decisions.
