Developmental applications and permissions are required to make a home. In most cases, it means that your neighbourhood is now growing, with chances of increasing its value. However, construction within your neighbourhood, especially those that are next to you, can be a headache. And sometimes, you have to do what is right —— object.
Objections with planning are essential for your peace. Nevertheless, they should be based on a legal context; just because you hate your neighbour doesn’t mean you have the right to object to their construction. Your objections must entail legal means, to ensure that it is also reasonable where it can affect your living rights. Hence, it must contain how it affects you, or even with construction and developmental concerns. Because at the end of the day, we just want the best for ourselves and our neighborhood, right?
Yet, disputes can be frustrating too. You need to make sure your appeal is strong so that it can be convincing for planners to accept your rejection.
Reasons for Objection
Disrupts Privacy
We all are entitled to our own privacy at home. This is why it is also important to secure it, as you cannot get the most privacy aside from your home. If ever your neighbor builds a structure that affects your privacy, it is of certainty that you can object to your neighbor’s plans of building. Moreover, you might even observe that you cannot get enough sunlight into your home. With this, you can appeal to your local council and file for a loss of view to better object to your neighbor’s construction planning.
Construction Issues
Aside from the effects of your living standards, you may also file for objection when you can see that the construction has some issues. It may be that the construction ignores local design guidelines or even uses substandard materials for their construction. This means that the construction will be risky for your neighbors and your home as well, given the fact that it could greatly be affected when calamities come. If you see that the neighbor intends to build something that is considerably far from the normal construction of a home in your neighborhood, then it must be prevented from being constructed. Always check planning guidelines from your local planning council. You might also want to ask them for their permission to see if they have one.
Prevents Accessibility
There will be neighbors that will be selfish and there’s an inevitable chance that the building can affect your access to roads; then you have a good chance of successfully objecting to your neighbor’s planning. For instance, your neighbor’s house can affect your parking space or give a little allowance for vehicles to pass, then it is a great basis for you to reject. Moreover, if it happens that the planning permission negatively affects the traffic or impacts road safety, then you know what to do. It will be beneficial for you to object to the planning permission ahead of time, for the common good of your neighborhood.
Environmental Threats
It’s always necessary to object to planning permissions that could greatly affect your neighborhood’s environment. If ever the construction will affect trees and a significant landscape of your area, then it might be good to file a complaint and object to your neighbor’s plans.
How to Object
Varying city councils in Australia can provide you with an objection form. However, you actually do not need to use it. You may just appeal by writing a letter of objection to them and providing the specifics as to why you’re sending the letter in the first place; writing in bullets can be done too, and make sure to address as many issues as you can. Still, you need to include the application number, address of the proposal, and your contact details as well. This ensures that your objection can be quantified with a detailed explanation, and even considered for a successful rejection of planning permission.
More so, you may write in petitions and have a signature campaign in your neighborhood. But it would be better to communicate with your local council individually, to make sure they will be able to communicate with you easily.
Developments along your neighborhood may always be objected to. If it affects your living standards significantly, then you are good to go. Just remember to put in viable details and reasons for the objection where it can affect your property poorly. By then you can have a lovely neighborhood, surrounded with peace and a good environment too.
