Monday, Apr 26, 2010
Rules is Rules.... says the planning fascists
The Mail: Granny flat dust-up: Distraught pensioner wrestles with police and jumps in front of the digger sent to demolish her £1million luxury annexe
A pensioner leapt on to a digger in a desperate attempt to stop council workers demolishing her luxury granny annexe.
Nicole Harper, 76, a cancer patient, parked her car in the machine's path then jumped on it after workers arrived unannounced to tear down the £1million extension.
The annexe was built by her son, businessman Michel Harper, at his country home - but officials declared it a metre wider and four metres longer than had been approved.
Posted by titaniccaptain @ 02:30 PM (1634 views) Add Comment
23 Comments
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1. mark said...
Criminal it is like living in Nazi UK, the councils are the Gestapo
2. jack c said...
I tend to find 3 sides to every story, but one thing is for certain these days and that is that compromise and common sense is out of the window.
3. enuii said...
Bureaucracy Rules OK!
The again one of our local developers accidentally built an extra storey on his appartment block, honest guv it was a genuine mistake, we read the plans wrong, and got away with it!
4. Dave said...
You need a zero tolerance approach to this sort of scam. If you let one get away with it, then everyone does.
If you breach the rules, you must pay the price and have whatever was built demolished. Plus the bill for knocking it down.
Strangely enough, the certainty of buildings being demolished if you break the rules, will cause people not to break the rules in the first place.
5. mrflibble said...
Absolutely ridiculous. All for the sake of a couple of feet. This country is a lost cause.
6. Crunchy said...
Fair enough. Too many chancers in this country. Too many risk takers and P takers.
Rules is rules! Did I say that? YES.
7. cyril said...
Should have built it according to the plans. Give 'em an inch and they take a mile.
8. Swissnic said...
Why didn't the council just impose fines??? Regardless of the reasons why this happened, it doesn't give a counccil the right to go on a destructive rampage. Take the owners to court, and hit them with community service, and jail if they are found in contempt of court (for not following a rectification order)!
The council and the courts have plenty of measures they can impose of disobedient people - but I find this action offensive.
9. quiet guy said...
As Jack C says, there are many angles to this story. To me the story seems to be about a rich man who couldn't be bothered to play by the ordinary people's rules. On the other hand, why couldn't the council have given notice that the demolition was imminent?
10. gone-to-colombia said...
I used to be an elected member of a planning committee, there is more to this story than is being reported.
11. mark said...
why did the council have to drive through garden wall? If this was in the USA the owner would be able to shoot them...
12. vacuouspolitician said...
Stupidity on both sides. As above - agree - more to this story than meets the eye.
13. Exiges said...
It's not like it was out by 10mm, it's out by a whacking 4 metres, and it appears that the owner refused to correct the "mistake".
Planning was given to build a certain structure, you can't then build what you like instead.
If the owner refuses to correct the mistake, and refuses access, then surely the council has the right to gain access demolish the "illegal" structure.
14. Jeremiah said...
76 year old cancer patient? Could at least have waited till she popped her clogs!
15. titaniccaptain said...
Today is truly a great day and one to remember historically it is the day I have predicted and I was correct in my prediction......
16. jack c said...
titaniccaptain - have you been on the Welsh mushrooms again?
17. titaniccaptain said...
No I gave those up when I was 17 Jack C after a bad trip where I locked my grandmother in the living room with the cat, I was convinced they both had rabies and were intent on biting me.....
No the moment of truth has arrived......
Why is the 26th of April so special?......any offers?
18. cyril said...
@titaniccaptain....are you celebrating the anniversary of the Chernobyl disatster? (Reactor number 4 I think). I can't think what else it can be.
19. titaniccaptain said...
No Cyril...........
It is...........
AVATAR is AVAILABLE ON BLU RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
20. gone-to-colombia said...
I'm sorry, what am I missing, or am I from another century - What is Avatar, and what is Blu Ray?
21. titaniccaptain said...
Hi GTC
Avatar is James Cameron's latest epic.....he is the director of Titanic (A film you shouldn't watch on your boat) his latest film Avatar is mind bending visually...the plot is OKish but it is an experience which is why I went more than once to the cinema to watch it.
Blu Ray is the best high definition format you can buy films on at the moment for which you need a Blu ray player to watch them on....you will also need a good high definition television to watch it on.
I did a little write up on it.
http://www.economicvoice.com/james-camerons-avatar-is-a-masterpiece/5006679#axzz0mFQWqlVM
22. goweresque said...
When are councils going to take similar action against all the gypsies who have built illegal developments on land they have purchased in various places all around the country? Whole fields have been tarmacked over, and not a peep out of the planning departments. This bloke builds something a few feet bigger than on the plan and they do this. I suspect they wouldn't dare to try the same with the gypsies for fear of what would kick off. Which just goes to show, in this country the law is no longer blind, the outcome depends on who you are and how violent you threaten to be. If you play by the rules they will crush you. Be a hard nut to crack and they'll leave you alone because they don't want the hassle. Welcome to Labour's Britain, where bad behaviour is rewarded.
23. gone-to-colombia said...
TC, thank you for the explanation. I seem to recall a student mentioning film you mentioned. Blu Ray, news to me.
@17, as I mentioned, I was on a planning committee, the officers tended to be ba$tards to everyone. Though, I have an insiders feeling there is a lot more to the story here than is in the article.