Today I spoke to Bethany at Nicolas Tye after Abi cleared up a few things with our local Parish Councillor. So, Today is the day when the pre-application finally gets sent to the good folk at Mid-Beds Planning Department.
So, from Today, it’s a case of fingers crossed and positive vibes towards their HQ. Apparently it could take a couple of weeks, if not longer, before we hear anything back, and the tone is usually negative. But, it’s the job of ourselves and Nicolas Tye to pick the positives out and work from there. Feeling positive just now about the whole thing.
Then again, they could send back a very short “no”. Then we’ll have to think carefully about where to go (if anywhere) from there!
Yesterday the 2nd draft of the pre-planning enquiry back arrived, and it’s brilliant.
The new version addressed any concerns we had about the first draft, and taking into account the covering letter that’s also included I think it’s a winner. Nice presentation, good illustrations, and I think our own ideas are well incorporated into the more political nature of writing that the architects take. So hopefully it ticks all the right boxes, and offers a little insight into the fact that despite our intentions to use modern design, materials and building methods, we’re keen to not stick out like a sore thumb.
Maybe more of a beauty spot
Yesterday afternoon I went over to the architects place on my own to go over the pack that is to be sent to Mid Beds planning department. Other than a few typos, we had a few other concerns where we thought some things were maybe over emphasised, others maybe not focused on enough.
There wasn’t really a need for the meeting, it could have been done via phone, fax and email, but I just prefer to do things face to face, especially when we live so close to their place anyway. It was also a change to meet Bethany Wren, who will be working with Nic on our project. Always good to put a face to a name.
Anyway, our half our meeting went on for much more than 30 minutes, but I felt a lot of reassurance and feel I understand the tactical and political approach we should be taking to try and tick as many positive boxes as we can with the planners. For example we were concerned the flood plain was being over played, but because it’s being used as a positive thing (for example removing the old garage that’s partially within the flood plain) it is a good idea to show how that is being considered.
We agreed to focus a little more on the our wishes to build an environmentally friendly house, and they also wanted to include an example of plans for a house in Hertfordshire (just recently given planning permission), which is to be built in a conservation area. They feel this would be a positive as it shows how they can incorporate modern technology and design in a manner sympathetic to the surrounding area. Seemed a good idea for me.
This house in Herts also had a Rheinzink Solar Thermie roof, which is another interesting thing for us to investigate.
Dawn went around to see the head of the Parish Council earlier in the week. Alf has been a fan of our family moving in to the village for some time. Being a village that’s close to a city (Milton Keynes), and close to the M1, his two main general concerns appear to be Salford being swallowed by MK, and the village being full of commuters, having no life, or future, of it’s own.
Well, it seems the talk went very well. It’s hard to say exactly what conversation took place in detail, but apparently he sounded extremely positive. He advised us to try and get planning in as soon as possible, certainly before the May elections, and made some calls to other councillors and apparently one of the planners, and all the noises that came back were very positive indeed. In principle he couldn’t see any objections coming in from neighbours or councillors, as a family expanding on land they already own is just the sort of thing the village needs.
Whatever way you look at it it seems on the cards that Salford will be all but eaten, if not completely, but Milton Keynes in the next 5 to 15 years. It would be a shame to lose all the countryside and local walks and scenery we have here. It depends on the nature of the expansion, how they deal with Salford, and if they even consider our places of residence in that plan, as we feel quite isolated from the Village as it is. Hopefully we’ll get permission for two new homes, and there will be four houses and a pub in our little row, rather than two.
So in a way, the talk was very positive indeed. Alf even suggested skipping the pre-planning enquiry and just going for it! But on the other hand it was a little depressing to get some very real reminders that the scenery we hope make our new homes part of could all be gone soon enough anyway. The views we want to be able to take in from upstairs windows might not be there to appreciate for too long.
Ah well, such is life.
Saturday 3rd March our copy of the Pre-Planning enquiry pack arrived from Nicolas Tye Architects.
We had a quick read through it before going over it together with Dawn and Lewis on Monday. The presentation and pack style seem pretty good, but as people who’ve never done this before we’re not overly confident that it’s quite what we want it to be. That is, we’re not sure it’s “hard sell” enough, and appears to be offering two of our compromise options as options, rather than what we really wish to achieve.
The first outline plan shows the two new houses as semi-detached, with Waterhall Cottage largely unaffected, the second shows Waterhall Cottage completely removed and all houses in a row with a single story garage. What we really want is two detached new properties, and a refresh of the current property.
We’re also slightly concerned it over emphasis the flood plain that never floods, and doesn’t promote enough our desired to build modern homes that are as environmentally friendly as possible in terms of construction and long term running.
I’m going to call Bethany at Nicolas Tye in the morning to try and arrange a get together and chat, as although overall we like the pack and the approach Nicolas Tye are taking, we’re not delighted with this, and I certainly feel it would be better to chat face to face to get over all the little concerns in one go, and make sure we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet.
I was hoping to scan in some of the pack, but I’ll hold off that until I’ve gone over our concerns with Bethany and/or Nic and have the final version we’ll be sending to the planning department.