Objections

On the morning of the fourteenth I got a call from a woman from the planning department who wanted to come over take some photographs of the rear of the house. When she arrived, looking like a bag lady, an hour later she told me that our neighbours (Martin and Anne) had written a letter objecting to our plans. I was shocked. Not shocked that they’d made a complaint but shocked that they’d done it without telling us when we’d done our best to be open with them by showing them the plans and telling them what we hoped to do months ago. Marianna thought their failure to inform us but to write a letter to the council was “very English”. The woman from the council took photographs of our house from the left to the right and a couple over Martin’s fence. A week later the architects forwarded us a letter saying that the council had objected because “The quality of the design caused the building to appear overbearing and out of keeping with the surrounding properties”. I liked the way the architects responded with comments about how our house currently looks but also with photographs of the extensions that neighbouring houses have. I still think we’ll be granted permission. And so will have to press ahead knowing that we’re upsetting the neighbours. We don’t have any alternatives that might appease them since the current plan is plan C or F. It’s this or no first floor.