'I do apologise but you’ve got a year' - Homeowner ordered to rebuild balcony and dormer window by council

Mid Sussex District Council’s planning committee refused a retrospective application for the features at a house in The Grange, Hurstpierpoint, and agreed an enforcement notice should be issued.

There was plenty of sympathy for the applicant, who told the meeting that she had ‘naively’ taken the word of a builder that the work carried out in 2018 – while not the same as what had been approved – had been compliant with planning permission.

She added that, to put things right, the flat roof would have to be removed and replaced with two apex roofs – and she had been unable to find another builder willing to take on the job.

Colin Trumble (Con, Hurstpierpoint & Downs) questioned whether an enforcement notice was within the public interest. He added: “Several builders have said that the work would be unnecessarily complex, time-consuming and overly uneconomic.”

The problem faced by the council was that, in planning law, no enforcement notice can be issued for a development more than four years old – a deadline which is rapidly approaching. Ignoring that deadline would essentially be giving permission for something which did not comply with the council’s planning policies.

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Phillip Coote (Con, Crawley Down & Turners Hill) said: “This is one of the situations where being on the planning committee is not a happy place.”

While supporting the enforcement notice, he suggested the applicant should seek legal advice regarding the actions of the builder – who, the committee was told, is no longer in business.

It’s not all bad news for the applicant, though. The enforcement notice last for 12 months and, should she choose to launch an appeal, it will be paused until that appeal is heard – something which could take months.

Announcing the decision, chairman Gary Marsh (Con, Ardingly & Balcombe) told her: “I do apologise but you’ve got a year.”