Forum Topic

How some can bend the system and others cannot

Interesting to see a builder fined for his unauthorised dumping and scaffolding in South Ealing. Intersting too the quotes from Cllr Mahfouz.Maybe he should have taken a walk around a few other streets in South ealing and ask a few questions of the lack of joined up enforcement in the monitoring of building and planning in this town.How about this for blatant abuse of the system: 1. Erect a new fence and wall around your property, but quietly move the boundary 4 inches or so out into the pavement by claiming the cemented area between the pavement and the property.2. Hope no-one will notice or have photographs of said pavement.3. Wait a short while and put in a planning application for works.4. Somehow, find a way that leaves residents affected uninformed over alterations 5. Build right out to the new line demolishing part of 'new fence and wall.6. Fit gas heating vents and condensor outlets that overhang pavement and blow fumes and steam into faces of pedestrians at face height7. Get away with it.How? Well question 4 remains unexplained by LBE and the local residents associations.As for the encroaching of the pavement well it is for highways to notice and act, but as it was some months prior to the planning application, no-one checked or noticed...or did they? Some residents have keen eyes and did notice.Highways do not have to inform building control or planning of any discrepancy or where the correct boundary should be. No-one at planning noticed or checked until it was too late.  Only a few inches, but principals should exist here surely? Or we would all be doing it.As for heating equipment, Building control apparently require nothing more than a safety certificate from the gas fitter.Yet other heating vents are refused on grounds of being to near to other properties of people. But it's ok to have it straight in ones face? On a footway that has a lot of users?So how come it appears to be one rule for some and a different one for others?Cosy relationships with officers and architects/builders?Resident with good contacts?Who knows, but clearly some scheming has been going on somewhere.

Oliver Gregan ● 5596d5 Comments

The temporary ones in the Department of the Built Environment (?) in Ealing Council are the nice ones (they tend to be antepodians on a one-time one-year visa under Commonwealth residual friendliness accords for whom it is worthwhile because they get their tax back when they go home; they are usually graduates or on a gap year and are usually helpful) the ones to watch out for are the time-servers who are grinding out the next twenty years to their gold-plated Unite/Unison protected retirement pension; it is a shame that Martin Smith our esteemed Ealing Chief Executive cannot grind these vested interests out in the next round of staff cuts and return Ealing planning to a saner and more resident-friendly footing rather than the shopping-centre-building madness and Stalin-style-diktat approach that Ealing planning has today!

Eugene Wroblewsi ● 5591d

Once when speaking to someone in planning they said that a significant number of people were temporary staff who would work and then leave. So errors are likely to occur and things get missed. Rather than employ skilled people, you get what you pay for in terms of staff just there for a quick few quid until they go travelling again.

Peter Chadburn ● 5591d

One can only look at the Arcadia projects, the Dickens Yard projects and how much money was spent lobbying for that to know that the Ealing Planning Department IS corrupt; no other public organisation would get away with spending £300,000 lobbying for something that Ealing does not want (or need). Anyone who has ever interacted with the Ealing Planning department will know how unpleasant and ill-informed these people are!

Eugene Wroblewsi ● 5591d

There's a few houses in South Ealing that have recently clearly breached all the normal ethics. Clearly money opens doors and this reflects badly.Makes Ealing planning and building control look like FIFA!

Michael Brandt ● 5596d

Some builders get away with this type of behaviour and actually brag about it!In our area a double garage was turned into flats and the builder laughed at everyone who objected! He broke many rules but nothing happened.

Jean F Fernandez ● 5596d