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Case ref:201002146
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Date:September 2011
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Body:Perth and Kinross Council
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Sector:Local Government
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Outcome:Some upheld, recommendations
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Subject:handling of application (complaints by opponents)
Summary
Mrs C's neighbour notified Mrs C that he was applying for planning consent for dormer extensions. He assured her that no window was planned for the elevation facing her property. Mrs C checked the council's online planning portal and found that that was the case, so she did not object. The council's case officer then suggested changes to the submitted scheme, including a window in that elevation. However, his delegated report was not amended and the changed plans were not assessed, and Mrs C only became aware of the change when construction started. She complained that the plans had changed without anyone telling her; that there had been a delay in placing the amended applications on the council website; and that the council had been inconsistent in the handling of this application compared with the treatment of another nearby application. We upheld her complaints about the changes and placement of the amended application online, as the amended plans were not readily available and this meant that Mrs C did not know about the new window before construction started. We did not uphold the third complaint as we did not find inconsistency of treatment.
Recommendations
We recommend that Perth and Kinross Council:
• apologise to Mrs C for the shortcomings in dealing with the application;
and
• offer to meet the costs of Mrs C’s neighbour installing obscure glazing on
both panes of the side dormer window.