Day 54 - Planning to Block Out Our Light?

This post is a day late ... I was in no fit state to post anything yesterday, having been sent into a deep low by yet another planning application from our neighbours. This will be the fifth application we have had to fight against in the less than three years that we have lived here ... I find it both unsettling and upsetting, and sometimes I don't feel like I have the (mental and emotional) energy to fight again! In case anyone thinks I am being overly dramatic or am guilty of being a "NIMBY" and spoiling other people's wishes and dreams, I've decided to explain it somewhat on here.

So, this post relates to the still-ongoing application by one set of neighbours, which would - if allowed - seriously affect the natural daylight coming into our kitchen. Now, the "right to light" question is, in fact, a legal issue, rather than a planning issue (it is also very complex and is dealt with on a case-by-case basis, with no hard and fast ruling); the planning department, however, will take into account the degree of "overbearing" that a building, extension or alteration would have on a neighbouring property. See what you think ...

The brick wall on the right is the external corner of our kitchen; the wall opposite (with ivy and other planting) is the current boundary wall between us and our neighbour (a firm of solicitors on the High Street); the high wall on the left (covered with dead ivy branches) shows the height at which they want to build an extension along the boundary wall, to a length beyond our kitchen window.

Rounding the corner, you see that the space between our kitchen wall (and window) and the boundary wall is very narrow, and that the wall opposite already quite high (in fact, it currently just meets the "45 degree rule" rule of thumb for planning applications).

Finally, this shows how the "view" from our kitchen window will be affected. Follow the line of the mono-pitched roof along in front of out window and try to imagine how much natural light will then be able to find its way into our kitchen!