Hi All

Got a friend having the run about by Westminster council, they are using an architect that they have a feeling is great at doing the drawings and technical side of things and hopeless at dealing with the council to get them planning.

Current issue is that they have applied for permission to bring a gas line up the front wall and into the house and an exhaust at the back, the architect has submitted a planning application and also listed build consent.

The architect then found a condition from 1965 prohibiting plumbing and pipes (other than rainwater pipes) to be fitted on the external faces of the building. So the architect has submitted an application to vary (I think to remove it) this condition.

The council has written back that they don't think the application is suitable as they have other applications on the go. So friend is now wondering if the architects know what they are doing or just doing things to generate fees.

Just wondering if they gain planning permission for the gas line and get listed building consent do they actually need to get the condition removed - or does the fact or getting the permission render the condition null and void?

Thanks

It's from when the house was converted into 5 self contained flats

I've attached the condition

It's quite possible the architect rang the planning department to check and was told he had to submit an application, then when they actually submitted one another planning officer said there was no need.

The planning department told me verbally that my oak clad outbuilding could be allowed to remain "light oak" or to go "silver". Then when my planning permission arrived it contained a condition requiring me to get the colour approved, and finally they insisted it had to be barn black.