Treading water

Unfortunately still no progress on the ground and none imminent as our listed building application to increase the roof height wasn’t validated until 26 September. The clock only starts ticking at that point although it was received on 23 August. With a month for consultation and nearly a month before a guaranteed decision we are in danger of no significant action until the new year.

An option is to proceed at risk in anticipation that we will get the approval. We really want to weather proof the extension before winter sets in. At the moment I’m planning to get the builders back after the consultation period expires on 26 October and rely on our planning agent getting the informal okay from the planning case officer even if we don’t officially hear for another few weeks. It is a bit nerve wracking making arrangements before we know the final decision but, given it’s only a 300mm increase in height and our local Parish Council had no objections at their meeting last week, the risk should be minimal.

Our experience when we submitted our original planning application was that the conservation and design officer is the key decision maker. So I’m going to try and get hold of them to get an early view as to whether or not they think the increased roof height is going to be a problem. If they’re okay with it then we should be safe to go.

An added challenge is we’re now moving into the phase of multiple contractors. Our builder needs to get the roof on before the sliding doors and floor can be installed. I need to book them all in now if I’m to stand any chance of getting the work done this side of Christmas. Both the door and floor suppliers are provisionally slotted in for the weeks beginning 26 November and 3 December respectively. The door frame needs to be fitted first then the concrete poured. The sliding doors can only be fitted once the concrete floor has been polished about two weeks after it has been poured. So, if we’re lucky, the doors might just go in by 21 December. If it all comes together it will certainly be Christmas cheer all round!

In the meantime there’s plenty to be getting on with. We’ve been cutting back and tidying the garden for winter and trying to keep on top of the never ending fall of leaves. Beautiful, but a magnet for slugs and snails and damaging to the lawn although they do help mask the two drainage trenches dug a couple of months ago.

There are also things we can be getting on with in the old part of the house. Something to update you on in my next blog!