The Isle of Wight Council has had to fork out more than £1,000 and apologise to an Island woman over a planning error.
The planning department failed to consider the privacy of neighbours in a development, which converted a chapel into flats, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has ruled.
A woman – known only as Mrs B – raised the complaint with the Ombudsman after the Council approved tall, clear, glazed windows for the former chapel that overlooked her garden.
When publishing details of the complaints, the LGSCO withholds personal information, so the location of the converted chapel and Mrs B house is unknown.
The authority approved the flat conversion in 2018, which included adding an extra floor. The design of the windows was approved in 2020.
Mrs B complained to the Isle of Wight Council in 2021 and said the new development would ‘severely harm the privacy of her garden’, particularly from the 1st floor. The authority told Mrs B it had not considered the impact of the new floor in 2018 or 2020.
With retrospect, the Council said had it done so, it was likely it would have insisted the windows have frosted glass. However, it could not reverse planning permission or insist the developer change the windows at the later stage. Instead, it wrote to the new residents of the chapel to explain the situation and ask them if they would voluntarily install blinds or frosted film in the windows.
Mrs B told the LGSCO she now feels she cannot use her garden as the new residents have clear views of it and she fears they can see into her house.
An LGSCO inspector found 2 instances of service failure and said it was clear the shortcomings have harmed Mrs B’s privacy.
The Isle of Wight Council has been ordered to pay Mrs B a ‘symbolic payment’ of £1,000 in recognition of her loss of privacy and a further £200 for her time and trouble pursuing the matter.
In a statement, the Isle of Wight Council said it got it wrong and was sorry to Mrs B for the harm this has caused. It said it has accepted the LGSCO’s findings and completed them within the timeframe required.
Mrs B also raised another issue with the ombudsman, saying the council did not tell her about the works.
The LGSCO said there was no fault in the way the authority publicised the application and it had no obligation to tell her.
Mrs B also raised an issue about the chapel’s exterior lighting – which ‘interfered with her enjoyment of her home’ – but this is not a planning issue, so it has been referred to the Environmental Health team.
They keep building all these crap places with no consideration at all for the other people who live there or the environmental impact. Grab the money and run is all they understand.
In my mind £1000 is quite insufficient compensation for the loss of privacy.
Although Mrs B is quite obviously the innocent agreeved party here.
You have to keep in mind the council doesn’t actually have any money of their own this will be tax payer’s money.
Since when have home owners had a right to privacy? Most every development is likely to affect someone’s privacy!
Ew could you imagine, neighbours seeing into your garden.
The obvious solution is to put the neighbours’ eyes out for daring to look out of a window. That would be a more fitting form of compensation for their impertinence.
They are soooo incompetent.
Not fit to do their job.
Look at the state of this Island now.
Look at Pan, its a brick jungle, with houses so small people cannot use normal sized furniture.
No green spaces.
No decent parking areas the cars are lining all the roads.
No places for children to play.
Infilling with even more houses.
Do not trust planning.
They ruined the enjoyment of my own property with their planning.
If you have bought your house, you are entitled to some consideration.
All very well if you rent and move around but if you own and have chosen to buy at great expense, then no you don’t want your privacy invaded because the council planning cant do their job.