Any planning policy and system is all about trying to
resolve the competing interests of individuals and organisations, in the
context of history, addressing current and future social, economic and
environmental needs. It’s a tricky balancing act. One person’s nightclub is
another’s noisy nightmare.
In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher thought that the solution to
our economic challenges lay in us taking in each other’s washing. Now, David
Cameron thinks that allowing everyone to build a house extension or
conservatory is the answer to the UK’s lack of economic growth.
David Cameron has announced that everyone should be allowed
to build large extensions to their homes without planning permission.
Currently, homeowners can build a single- storey 10ft extension if they live in
a terraced property and one of 13ft if they live in a detached house – all
without planning permission. These limits came about after previous
consultations had determined that this was about the right balance between
individual freedom and the point where neighbours might reasonably expect their
views to be taken into account. After all, any extension of most homes will
have some impact on neighbouring properties, like access to light and
overlooking. One person’s light is another’s darkness.
Now, the Prime Minister has decided that the limits for
building without planning permission should be doubled to 20ft and 26ft for a
three-year period only. And
Eric Pickles – the Coalition Government’s Environment
Secretary - has gone so far as to declare war on councils opposing his planning
free-for-all by urging residents to sue if they are not allowed to build large
extensions in their back gardens. In a provocative intervention, Mr Pickles
said those whose plans were turned down should seek damages against their local
authority.
However, a growing number of Conservative councils –
including the planning minister Nick Boles’s own Lincolnshire council – have
criticised the move, saying it will blight communities, slash house prices and
set neighbour against neighbour.
Before you reach a view about whether the policy is good or
bad, I suggest that you and your neighbours get your tape measures out and plot
out 26 foot single-storey extensions for everyone.
