No obsy for me. Boohoo

[iwatkins]

Been visual for years but started imaging this year.

Wanted to build a brick walled fibre glass domed obsy at the top of the garden.

Planning permission denied and just found out that my appeal has also been denied. Rotters.

So visual for me again. My NEQ6 and 80ED for sale as soon as For Sale section comes back.

Grrrr

[Celeste]

Was it denied because it's a 'fixed' structure IE brick built? Do they have any issues with a portable or movable obsy IE a modded shed or skypod? I know sometimes conservatories are denied...yet lean to's are allowed as they are not permanent. Just a thought.

[kev]

It one of the reasons that I did a run off observatory - it looked like a simple shed. Good for planning, good for the nieghbours, and good for security (as it didnt look like an observatory).

[Carbon Brush]

OK may be wrong here. A temporary building (shed) is not subject to planning permission. So a wooden obsy on a decent concrete base is OK.

Again, I may be wrong. But I think if you put the temporary building within 1 metre of your boundary, you are supposed to get building regs approval. But in practice nobody bothers. This is simply in case your building burns or falls over causing danger to a neightbour.

Take a look at the planning guidance on your local authority (and others) websites. Sadly the numpties often employed just process the application without being helpful. Ideas like 'if you move it 1m left, yout don't need approval' or 'if you make it 10cm lower it will pass' are not included in the refusal notice.

Planning is a just a game and like any game, if you don't know the rules, you will lose. It has been in the past a bit of an obsession of mine due to stupidity by a local council that resulted in a scathing ombudsman report.

I could go on. But just check the published guidelines and read the small print attached to the refusal and you should get somewhere. Let me know if I can help further.

David.

Edit. DO NOT sell your imaging kit until you have explorered all avenues.

[Peter Drew]

Celeste just beat me to this point, unless planning rules have changed, it used to be possible to avoid such problems by adopting "temporary" constructions. Check that possibility out, independently from your local authority, some planning departments don't like backing down, if this is a getaround then you might just as well proceed. Whatever you do, don't start a war with the planners, you might end up having to pull your house down!

[JonF]

OK may be wrong here. A temporary building (shed) is not subject to planning permission. So a wooden obsy on a decent concrete base is OK.

Again, I may be wrong. But I think if you put the temporary building within 1 metre of your boundary, you are supposed to get building regs approval. But in practice nobody bothers. This is simply in case your building burns or falls over causing danger to a neightbour.

Take a look at the planning guidance on your local authority (and others) websites. Sadly the numpties often employed just process the application without being helpful. Ideas like 'if you move it 1m left, yout don't need approval' or 'if you make it 10cm lower it will pass' are not included in the refusal notice.

Planning is a just a game and like any game, if you don't know the rules, you will lose. It has been in the past a bit of an obsession of mine due to stupidity by a local council that resulted in a scathing ombudsman report.

I could go on. But just check the published guidelines and read the small print attached to the refusal and you should get somewhere. Let me know if I can help further.

David.

Edit. DO NOT sell your imaging kit until you have explorered all avenues.

You're factually right, but wrong about planning people being 'numpties'. Of course they're not going to tell you how to get through the process in a statutory rejection, but if you talk to them, in my experience they're very helpful. There're always well qualified, experienced people in planning departments, and if you have a sensible conversation with them they'll give you loads of detail - for free - about what is and what isn't an option. (And no, I don't work in a planning department, I've just had experience of a few).

Anyway, a 'temporary structure' can be surprisingly permanent, and easily good enough for an obsy.

[tony]

a brick/block built structure is a "permanent" structure, whereas a timber/wood built structure is a "temporary" fixture therefore no planning permission is required, unless it is more than i think 70 cubic metres in volume.

[Davie]

Not sure if this is right or not but I think with us you can have a shed upto 6'x8' without planning permission being required.

As mentioned above ditch the bricks and go for it

[malc-c]

Having built my obsy this year I've been through this procedure. Sheds do require planning permission if they are over a certain height, and within a certain distance from a boundary. I'll look up the details in my project notes and post later, but from memory it can't be higher than 2.5m to the eve's or 3m to the ridge. There is also a clause regarding the percentage of garden it takes up, rather than a limit of square footage.

I also built mine on a 4 course dwarf wall for the base, which didn't constitute a permanent structure, but I beleive if you are constructing a brick built dome obsy it would have to comply with normal building regs and thus require full planning permission.

[malc-c]

Ok - found the details

Under new regulations that came into effect on 1st October 2008, sheds are considered to be permitted development, not needing planning permission, if they meet the following criteria:

• The shed is not to be forward of the principal elevation fronting a highway - In English, not closer to the road than the house itself.
  
• Outbuildings and garages to be single storey with maximum eaves height of 2.5 metres and maximum overall height of four metres with a dual pitched roof or three metres for any other roof.
  
• Maximum height 2.5 metres within two metres of a boundary.
  
• No verandas, balconies or raised platforms.
  
• No more than half the area of land around the “original house”* would be covered by additions or other buildings.
  
• In National Parks, the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and World Heritage Sites the maximum area to be covered by buildings, enclosures, containers and pools more than 20 metres from house to be limited to 10 square metres.
  
• On designated land* buildings, enclosures, containers and pools at the side of properties will require planning permission.
  
• Within the curtilage of listed buildings any outbuilding will require planning permission. - If your house is listed, you will need to seek planning permission.
  

* The term “original house” means the house as it was first build or as it stood on 1st July 1948 (if it was build before that date). Although you may not have built an extension to the house, a previous owner may have done so.

* Designated land includes National Parks and the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Conservation Areas and World Heritage Sites.

The only gray area is the point that you determine the max height when the ground is sloping, and if that is from the base or physical ground. I took mine from the ground level at the highest point, but still came in under the 3m to the ridge at the far end--- Just !!

[iwatkins]

Thanks everyone.

Have a good relationship with our planning officers and they suggested the same thing, a wooden structure.

However, the site takes the full brunt of the weather and is nearly 50 metres from the house. I wouldn't be happy with a wooden structure mainly on the security side. We had a wooden quality summerhouse on the same site and that stayed weatherproof for just two years plus two break-ins from kids.

So no, its a solid secure structure or nothing at all I'm afraid. I cannot lug a full imaging rig up there and back every night, it is just too much.

Not the end of the world though, I'll just stick to visual.

Cheers

Ian

[Carbon Brush]

Good luck with your efforts at sorting an observatory.

Whether visual of photop, the idea of pulling the roof back and not having to pack away is the best part.

My observatory is by the way a wooden shed. It looks like a garden shed with a pergola alongside. The roof slides onto the pergola. No planning. No building regs in it's location. Looks like any other shed to the casual passing thief. It takes strong winds and has been in place for four years without serious degradation.

If you go for a bit stronger than usual wood, it is good for security.

Also look at the security on the door and an alarm. My shed has very robust door fixing that is not obvious from the outside. It will also trigger the alarm if you start prying off boards, or removing the roof. I won't go into the details on an open site for obvious reasons. But if you decide to give a wood shed a try, send a pm.

David.

[Chris H]

I have numerous 'wooden sheds' which serve as garages and lock-ups and they have stood up to the strong winds and driving rain that we get all the time (feels like at the mo) up here in Anglesey and they have never been broken into although attempts have been made. I get a local shed company to make them to my specifications 25mm tantalised boards on a 3"x2" frame with extra bracing on the side facing the prevailing wind, the roof is onduline sheeting, felt is a waste of time IMO, and the doors are reinforced. The last one I bought was 12'x10' and cost me £2300 but they are built to last and comply with planning. There are ways round this, there must be someone near you who makes sheds go and have a word with them.

[singlespeedman]

wait until June - My father (a planing consultant and former head of planning for a county pop north) has advised me (building my own shed out of brick) that the permission thing for "outbuildings" of a certain size, including conservatories is about to change. Apparently the ruling has already been passed but the rubber stamp is not being applied until June which is now when I am building my brick shed with a, strange, roll off roof.