Planning for an arena - gone to committee

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lizziebell

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My planning applicaton for an arena is going to committee. The local planning officer has put forward a recomendation of "permitted". The local council, environmental people and conservation people have all responded well, however my neighbour (1 other whose not a nieghbour, and 1 other whose not even in the village) have sent in objections - hence the need for it to go to committee.

Has anyone else been in this situation and did you attend the meeting. I really don't want to go and there is no way I can speak and answer unknown questions thrown at me in a room full of people. My OH thinks if I don't go the planning will get turned down. I feel pressured to go, but I know I will end up a nervous wreck, breaking down in tears and making a fool of myself in front of lots of people.

This planning has been difficult and stressfull enough and I feel exhausted.
 
My understanding of planning committees is that you are actually given something like 2 minutes to put your case forward - with no questions.

And if you want your arena, then yes you should go.

What are the grounds that your neighbours are objecting on??
 
I was in the same position so I know just how you feel!

I think that committee decisions tend to support the decision of the planning officer. After all, he or she has already taken the views of other people into account when making the recommendation and the committee is made up of people from the planning authority.

My parish council were vehemently opposed to my arena but I got permission at committee.

I didn't attend the meeting as I thought I might get too het up!

Best, best of luck.
 
They give the public x minutes to speak, and then as the applicant you are allowed to respond to what they have said.

I know I SHOULD go, but I really really can't face it. Its been so traumatic already.

Basically neighbour doesn't want me to and has spouted reasons of conservation and environmental. Several page objection via a lawyer (oh - of which neighbour is one), and the other 2 objections were from friends of neighbours - one the otherside of the village and one in the next village along. Neighbour even tried to rally round other neighbours to object too !!
 
yes, definitely go, and ask for permission beforehand to speak. then, if the objectors say something ridiculous, you can refute it.
i speak from bitter experience... at a former property my neighbour (bad feeling there already as my yard helper, who was still at school, had moved in with him and started an affair with him, and his wife had left him over it, nice!!) stood up in the meeting and said that i "was trying to build Wembley Stadium on his doorstep." this for a manege for private use...
because i hadn't asked to speak beforehand, i wasn't allowed to say a word, and it held everything up for months. gggrrrrr.
ask your OH to speak instead if you really hate the idea, but really you only have to stand up and tell the truth - how many horses are likely to be ridden in there daily, what the surface will be like, how visible it will be, etc. i wouldn't say anything about lighting etc at this stage if i were you! v best of luck!
btw, i have only elec fencing around mine, invisible from a distance, this sort of thing might keep them happy too... minimal visual impact and all that... or, planting trees to screen it, otherwise.
 
Don't worry too much if the planning officer supports you.

Friends of ours applied for pp for a cattery. Neighbours both sides and directly opposite opposed the plans but the pp went through with no probs.

Will keep everything crossed for you!
 
Definitely go and speak.

I had PP recommended for refusal by planning officer, but I wrote individual letters to each committee member which I hand delivered (sneaky!!) so I was able to have a quick word with each committee member beforehand about what I was planning to do.

I also went to the meeting to put my case forward. PP got approved by committee so really worthwhile putting in the time to do it.

If you're really nervous try writing a script of what you want to say and rehearse it lots beforehand, or could you get OH to speak?
 
If the committee refuse the arena it has to be on planning grounds, it can't be on grounds that somebody doesn't like you.

The planning rules will be specific to your council, and may/may not be things like access, potential health hazards, can you see it from the road, etc.

The council are very careful about refusing permission for things like arenas as if it goes to appeal - and they loose, they have to pay all costs.

I suspect that they don't have any grounds for refusal so you will probably be OK. They will probably just put in a few conditions, such as you can't use it for commerical reasons, can;t have lights, etc.

If it does get refused then you need to read the minutes of the meeting very carefully and check the reasons for refusal and whether they stack up. You can then make the decision whether to appeal or judge whether you can amend your application (for example a different surface) and reapply. ie a refusal isn't neccessarily the end of the road.

If you do go to the meeting then you need to emphasis that this will be a neat, will be made of a sympathetic material (sometimes rubber can be a problem) and won't materially affect your neighbours enjoyment of their property etc.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.
 
Yes you must go to the meeting.

Do you know on what grounds your neighbour has refused ?

I have spoken at a planning committee before. You need to request to speak before the meeting.

Plan what you want to say and read it out at the meeting, then you wont have to try and think on the spur of the moment.

Good Luck
 
You would be fine, its not that formal and its best to be there to hear whats said. I spoke at one and i hate public speaking but i wasn't prepared to let our neighbour have his say without defending our application. If you already have the planners on your side you should be fine. The planning manager handling our application was fab and fended off all the petty objections really effectively. You don't have to say very much, honestly. If you re there you can answer queries which might make all the difference, good luck, hope you get your arena!
 
Our neighbours opposed our planning for our sand school, the objections were the usual conservation issues, they also thought that because I am on the committee of the riding club that all of the riding club would be coming here to use it (!) another neighbour said it was a 'breach of his human rights' that when he looked out of his bedroom window he saw sand rather than grass!!! and it would spoil his view over the valley.

Anyway, I wrote a reply to the objections that was posted on the web site, it went to the committee (I didn't go) and they passed it, they also said no one has a right to a view over someone else's land .. wahoo!! but they would not approve floodlights, but at least we got our school but our neighbours no longer talk to us .... weirdos!
 
Hi. Definitely go to the meeting and take notes of all that is said. If you can pluck up the courage to speak then do so.

Our PP for a field shelter was approved by the planning dept but objected to by the parish council. Therefore it went to committee - and was refused. OH was kicking himself that he didnt get the chance to speak (you have to "book beforehand) as the committee dragged up all sorts of silly irrelevant stuff like we might turn it into a workshop (in spite of it having no doors, solid floor, water or electricity supply).

If you get refused its not the end of the world. We went to appeal (which is free) and the shelter was passed by the planning inspectorate.
 
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