An interesting story of residents in an area of London concerned about too much interference by the planning department into their lives - which appears led by other residents concerned the planners are not taking enough interest in their area.

AirBnB and VRBO use - known in planning as short term lets - are becoming more of an issue across the country for local planning authorities. They may need planning permission, and Councils are increasingly taking enforcement action. In some parts of London they are a considerable amount of the housing stock, as reported here.

A scheme for 50 houses was refused unanimously by a Planning Committee in Cornwall, but was allowed at appeal by the Inspector. This demonstrates the importance of showing a robust and persuasive case at the appeal stage by all parties.

One of town planning's favourite cases has another twist. Back in 1986 the owner of a terrace house in Oxford inserted a fibre-glass shark through the roof. This was refused permission by the Council, but kept after an appeal. Unfortunately for the current owner they recently turned it into a short term let (Airbnb), and lost an appeal against that use. So, whilst the shark will remain, you can't stay there anymore.

A common question we receive is how long a planning appeal will take to determine. The Planning Inspectorate publish statistics, which can be found here. Unfortunately it's a slow process of typically around 6 months from validation - note, that validation can take some weeks - but it is quicker than they have been for some years. No

An applicant who got permission for a new house has ended up in difficulties with the planning authority who have found the original plans were not accurate in showing the effect on the neighbour. A drawn-out process is now needed to resolve this, with the possibility of demolition.

The new Government has announced as part of their push for houses to be built the creation of a New Towns Taskforce. The members of the team are looking for locations for large new settlements, and will report back to the Government in 2025.

The long-running saga of the householder who built 'Britain's biggest man cave' has nearly come to an end. Despite losing appeals and being told to remove the building, he failed to do so and the Council were forced to take action to demolish - Councils have the power to carry out the terms of the enforcement notice and charge later for it. However, it seems the householder is reluctant to pay those bills.