Opposing planning on loss of daylight

[edanna]

There is a planning application for converting an old workshop that our house backs onto into a house. The plans show the wall at the bottom of our garden increasing from approx 2.3m to approx 4.8m. Because our garden is only approx 7m long, this means that we would have considerable loss of light to our back rooms and garden. There are some pretty complicated formulas for calculating adequate light so I?m wondering if anyone has experience of objecting to a planning application on this basis and what you did to show the potential effect. Thanks in advance.

[Penguin68]

https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB753GB753&ei=pNrPWv38M571gAbSwomoCQ&q=loss+of+light+or+overshadowing+planning&oq=loss+of+light+planning&gs_l=psy-ab.1.2.0l2j0i22i30k1l2.101422.102794.0.107774.8.8.0.0.0.0.93.525.7.7.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..1.7.523....0.ZUNnz5a9ZQI

[edanna]

Thanks Penguin68 I?ve already done a lot of googling - in the past I?ve seen threads where people have detailed how they objected in relation to Southwark?s local plan etc - maybe if I?d said that the thread wouldn?t have been lounged quite so quickly!

[AbDabs]

A neighbour complained on this basis and got the offending bit of building reduced in size. You need to forget about loss of light in your garden although you might as well tack on a mention of loss of amenity (emphasise play area if you have small children). But the important bit in planning terms is the angle that sunlight will come into the windows of the relevant rooms. It is pretty simple to demonstrate. Draw a cross section of the house with the garden and new wall and calculate what the old and new angle will be. However, the dimensions you mention may not be sufficient to fall into the category where you have grounds for complaint.

Look at pages 17/18 for the 25 degree rule in this document.(I'm assuming your house faces south for this to be a major issue)

http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s22935/Appendix%20A%20Residential%20Design%20Standards.pdf

[malumbu]

Invite the planning officer to view this from your perspective. We got plans changed from a large extension that overlooked us and a number of neighbours. The owners already had a plan B in their pocked so don't feel that we were Nimby's. The light pollution can be a pain at times as this is something that planning cannot control.

[edanna]

Thanks so much AbDabs and malumbu. Really useful, especially that document AbDabs.