Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Hi, wondered if anyone could give me some advice on this.

We have a neglected basement level front garden that we are interested in renovating to build a bike storage shed (a permanent structure out of brick with a flat paved roof).

This will be within the property boundary and below street level (it will be in line with the lower ground floor entrance; the roof will be just below street/pavement level) so it will not really be visible from the street.

We are within the Holly Grove conservation area.

Do you think we will need to see planning permission from Southwark Council?

 

Any advice much appreciated.

 

 

Edited by TTW

Don't ask for permission beg for forgiveness if it becomes a problem. The Southwark system is not built for such things and whilst you are supposed to get it reviewed and approved the system is built for house extensions etc. When we did it and went for approval it became a real challenge because they wanted architectural drawings etc and no-one goes to that level of detail for a bike shed.

 

My advice would be as long as your neighbours won't complain the go for it. Keep it within the Asgard size bike shed sizes and you should be fine.

Build it out of concrete blocks for security, with wooden cladding for aesthetics. The blockwork structure probably requires planning, but wooden ones almost certainly don't and nobody will know what's underneath 🙂

I have a plan to do the same in my front garden.

54 minutes ago, Rockets said:

Don't ask for permission beg for forgiveness if it becomes a problem. The Southwark system is not built for such things and whilst you are supposed to get it reviewed and approved the system is built for house extensions etc. When we did it and went for approval it became a real challenge because they wanted architectural drawings etc and no-one goes to that level of detail for a bike shed.

 

My advice would be as long as your neighbours won't complain the go for it. Keep it within the Asgard size bike shed sizes and you should be fine.

Interesting. Can I ask what happened with yours in the end? Did you have to draw up plans etc?

ring and ask them for guidance.

If you proceed without PP (and it turns out to be necessary), you may run into problems when you sell.

Probably just mean buying indemnity insurance, but why not just get their views now

 

If it’s visible from the street then there will be those who will report it to Southwark as in conservation area. 
I would check out area to see if anyone else has done something similar and see if it comes up on Southwark’s planning website. 

If it's a permanent structure in a conservation area then I think you will need permission - even though I suspect outside a conservation area you wouldn't. Your objective (secure storage for a bicycle in a non-obtrusive structure) may well be nodded through - it matches the council's own world-view - but if it hasn't had permission then any complaint would necessarily cause the council to take action. That's what a conservation area is there for. And there will be a local prodnose who will choose to complain.

My daughter had such a private complaint (for different sorts of work) against her upheld by the council who demanded a huge fee for restoration, until she reminded them that it was their workforce who had done the work, against her advice (as it was a conservation area!) - luckily she had the email audit trail as evidence! In that case the 'works' part of the council were working off different conservation area maps than the conservation department. Not Southwark in this instance.

  • 5 weeks later...

If anyone is interested/looking to do something similar, I ended up speaking to Southwark's planning department and their advice is: 

'planning permission will be required for the bike shed at this location.

I can reassure you that the Council will support this scheme and will seek to fast track a decision as soon as an application is received.'

On 30/08/2023 at 13:33, Rockets said:

TTW - are they still asking for architectural plans/drawings or have they amended the process? 

 

They want a basic scale drawing but have suggested I could do it myself. We need a structural engineer because of the retaining wall and he is going to do the drawing. 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Ahh, the old "it's only three days" chestnut.  I do hope you realise the big metal walls, stages, tents, toilets, lighting, sound equipment, refreshments, concessions etc don't just magically appear & disappear overnight? You know it all has to be transported in & erected, constructed? And that when stuff is constructed, like on a construction site, it's quite noisy & distracting? Banging, crashing, shouting, heavy plant moving around - beep beep beep reversing signals, engines revving - pneumatic tools? For 8 to 10 hours a day, every day? And that it tends to go on for two or three weeks before an event, and a week after when they take it all down again? I'm sure my boys' GCSE prep won't be affected by any of that, especially if we close the windows (before someone suggests that as a resolution). I'm sure it won't affect anyone at the Harris schools either, actually taking their exams with that background noise.
    • Thanks for the good discussion, this should be re-titled as a general thread about feeding the birds. @Penguin not really sure why you posted, most are aware that virtually all land in this country is managed, and has been for 100s of years, but there are many organisations, local and national government, that manage large areas of land that create appropriate habitats for British nature, including rewilding and reintroductions.  We can all do our bit even if this is not cutting your lawn, and certainly by not concreting over it.  (or plastic grass, urgh).   I have simply been stating that garden birds are semi domesticated, as perhaps the deer herds in Richmond Park, New Forest ponies, and even some foxes where we feed them.  Whoever it was who tried to get a cheap jibe in about Southwark and the Gala festival.  Why?  There is a whole thread on Gala for you to moan on.  Lots going on in Southwark https://www.southwark.gov.uk/culture-and-sport/parks-and-open-spaces/ecology-and-wildlife I've talked about green sqwaky things before, if it was legal I'd happily use an air riffle, and I don't eat meat.  And grey squirrels too where I am encourage to dispatch them. Once a small group of starlings also got into the garden I constructed my own cage using starling proof netting, it worked for a year although I had to make a gap for the great spotted woodpecker to get in.  The squirrels got at it in the summer but sqwaky things still haven't come back, starlings recently returned.  I have a large batch of rubbish suet pellets so will let them eat them before reordering and replacing the netting. Didn't find an appropriately sized cage, the gaps in the mesh have to be large enough for finches etc, and the commercial ones were £££ The issue with bird feeders isn't just dirty ones, and I try to keep mine clean, but that sick birds congregate in close proximity with healthy birds.  The cataclysmic obliteration of the greenfinch population was mainly due to dirty feeders and birds feeding close to each other.  
    • Another recommendation for Niko - fitted me in the next day, simple fix rather than trying to upsell and a nice guy as well. Will use again
    • Looks great! but could it be possible to pinch the frames a bit tighter with some long nose pliers and add more struts to stop the tree rats getting inside? Also, the only issue with a mesh base is that it could attract rats towards your property.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...