Final project in Brighton and council planning insanity:

Just about getting my last project in Brighton on the go but its not without its problems.Nothing is **ever** without its problems if there are outside parties involved.

Problem number one : The old guy who who lived in the flat for 20 years has moved out.He has left behind half of his personal effects in the flat to be cleared at some undefined later date that is not specific.He has taken all the valuable or stuff that was wanted and left what amounts to unwanted junk yet i cant clear any of it until the old guy signs a disclaimer that he doesnt want any of it before i can fill up a skip with it as its stuff even a charity shop wont touch as they are getting more and more picky these days about what they sell.Its quite sad really as i was moving all the stuff that included photo albums into a big pile in the middle of the room as it was in the way.

I think a deadline will have to be set now as it has gone on for too long

Quite honestly the place is a filthy slum which needs to be cleared and cleaned before i can get on with *anything*

This is the flat where i didnt have to physically eject the criminal wide boy house clearence crew who were clearing the thousands of books left behind and who felt that they would have a go at removing the fireplaces too.I caught them red handed as one of them was trying to seperate the fireplace from the wall and the other was measuring them up and comparing them.

"This fireplace is the same size as the fireplace in the lounge.."

Yes they are arent they.I noticed that as well.Anyway you cant have them so pack up and leave .

The windows hadnt been opened for 20 years and it took a bit of effort to get them moving again and there was mould and damp all up the walls.

Eurrgh .Didnt have to call a Hazmat team though.

2:Council planning insanity when outline plans were submitted to the council:

This flat has only 3 rooms.

1 large lounge at the front on 1st floor level with balcony.The room is about 40 foot sq and has 1 fireplace , decorative mouldings around the ceiling and large ceiling rose in the centre painted blood red ! and a ceiling that is partially collapsing in 1 place.

Beyond that is a long rectangular shape room that is about 10 foot by 50 foot that has wooden tongue and groove panelling a third of the way up the wall that was added in the 1930s and looks awful.The council keep insisting that this room is a hallway when it isnt.Its not a hallway.Its a reception room or was .

The council are insisting that the panelling should stay so if they still insist on ot being kept then it canstay until the councils final visit then i will remove it anyway regardless.

Beyond that is another room the same as the front but 2 thirds of the size cut up by partitions into 2 rooms.


Here is the insane bit:The council said in the meeting that they wouldnt allow the new kitchen to be sited in "the Hallway" and it should be sited in the large front room instead.

This is impossible due to building regs/ventilation as ventilation has to be ducted from the kitchen to an outside wall and i cannot do that in the large room plus the fact that a kitchen in the large room will ruin it visually and its difficult to run the wastepipes through floorjoists as its a large distance to the outside wall plus only Bedsits/Studios have kitchens in the lounge and this isnt a Bedsit.The council say that the "Hallway" is more important than the lounge even though all the mouldings up the wall and on the ceiling were added in the 1930s and are not original while the large room has all original mouldings.

What am i supposed to do run ducting across the wall ??

With no way of concealing it anywhere in the large room and then it runs across the wall in the "hallway" and then under the fucked floorboards in the hallway where it is impossible to cut holes that are 4 " in diameter through and then up the wall again ?

Where i want it i just have to make 1 hole in the wall directly next to the extractor.

Simple.

GGGRRRRRRRR

A kitchen in the lounge ??

Fucking insane and stupid.

What a way to sabotage the flat.

What a way to sabotage the entire project.

I/we refuse to do that.

Why are they asking me to do something that i cant do and that goes against building regs and goes against their own policy and ruins the flat ??

Jesus H Fucking Christ !!!

So this means the architect has to do a whole seperate set of drawings and propose another scheme as an alternative scheme that i dont want to use anyway because i want the kitchen in the long room anyway no matter what and i know someone 3 doors up who has a kitchen in their hallway that was all approved by the council not long ago.

So why am i different ??

Why ??

Its like the Dingbats in the planning dept make the rules as they go along.

Bollox to that its not fair and its stupid so if these plans are not approved by the head of the dept then i am going to go to English Heritage when i appeal.

What a way to totally ruin half a million quids worth of flat.


Frustration - makes - me - want - to - bang - my - head - against - the - wall.

Frustration caused by the stupidity i have to deal with far too often.

I swear it *never* used to be like this.

And i have had to write out an impact report on the proposed scheme and how it affects the historical fabric of the building which is compulsory because since january all planning applications to listed buildings must have an impact report filed with the plans when they are submitted as 96% of all applications submitted are rejected because they dont include impact reports.

The council Dingbats argument is that the mouldings in the long room are more important than those in the large room.

The council dont realise yet that the mouldings etc in the "Hallway" are not original which makes the Council dingbats arguements and points worthless.

They will find out when the plans and reports are submitted but i will get more advice from the building historian guy that i work with sometimes.

I just cant have any more of this Bullshit anymore as i just want to get on with stuff and make progress and get on with the work without more obstacles that are pointless and unnecessary being placed in my way.

All this stuff is stupid and shouldnt be happening but i dont live in a sane world anymore and the stupidity becomes standard procedure.

Why is nearly everything stupid and backwards and arse about face these days ?? ...

I want to site the kitchen in the long "Hallway" because it is easy,will look good and it meets all building/fire regs plus its the best use of the space given the other choices yet the council dont see it this way so far.



This is insane and i know for a fact that the Council Planning/Conservation dept is a fucked dept in every way but the meeting didnt include the head of the dept who i know a little bit anyway.The head of the dept just doesnt care anymore as he is disillusioned and has been ground down by the all round uselessness of the council and is just working his ticket until his retirement.He makes the final decision.I will contact him before the plans are submitted to try and make sure that the plans are approved.


Please !!!

Uphill struggle - One step forward 2 steps back - Uphill struggle - block progress - One step forward 2 steps back - fight obstacle - manouvere around obstacle - Another obstacle !! - and on and on it goes.

The work i lost late last year that i was annoyed about didnt happen anyway because the company involved have lost all their funding because of the credit crunch which has scared off their backers so no loss there anyway.Just glad i wasnt involved as i could have lost money and never got it back.This happened as predicted.

I cant get the council round until the stuff has been cleared out as its not presentable and i cant submit the plans until the flat has been cleared because i cant have a meeting until its gone and i cant get the stuff cleared until the owner of the stuff has signed the disclaimer and i cant.... AAAAAARRRRGGGHHH !!!!...

Fuck it its all going in a skip if its not sorted in a week or 2.All of it.

Why do i always get all this Shit happening ??

Why cant the previous occupant just take *all* of his stuff when he moves out like everyone else fucking does ??