Tynedale District Council deserve a great bit rocket up their arses, or more specifically a bomb needs to fall from upon high onto the heads of the planning and building control departments, or perhaps the wrath of G-d will do. Now, I sound a bit cross here and actually I am. An ongoing saga is the story of Ali Johnson who is quadriplegic and lives about 5 miles from me. Tynedale have refused permission time and time again for him to build a home on his family's farm that is suitable to his needs. Now they have done the same thing to Frances Rogers who has MS and wants to build a house to be near her mum in Melkridge which is a village directly opposite me on the other side of the river. Apparently there is a total ban on building in the village, but nobody knew this before.
Anyway I am sympathetic to the fact that we live on or near National Park and AONB, and I know we need strict guidelines but these people want to build low impact dwellings suitable for their needs. We are not talking about 3 story town houses or multi occupancy flats. Guidelines should be just that and not set in stone. But it seems that Tynedale is unable to think or apply any thought to these applications. There are always exceptional circumstances, just what is wrong with the thinking of these people? They should be working with both Ali and Susan in order to make their dreams come true not rejecting applications all the time. A suitable home is indeed a dream to anyone with a special need. Ive thought about trying to improve access to my own property but getting planning permission on a Grade 2 listed building is so unlikely I just cant be bothered going through hassle only to be turned down. So all I can say is that I hope that these planners never find themselves in such a needy situation. It can happen to anyone and don't forget it could happen to anyone at Tynedale.
The local authority use beauacracy to find loopholes not to fund anything because they want to protect their budgets. When will common sense prevail. I am going through a similar situation re DFG. My MP has now got involved so its watch this space. I would suggest your friends get a much help from their MP's to raise this issue formally.
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs a CAN DO attitude here.
John
http://aguardsmansblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/bureaucracy.html