johnyboy Posted June 30, 2007 Report Posted June 30, 2007 do any one now the rules about keeping pigeons in your back garden i have a big garden and my lofts take up less then half of it. nad the lofts are no higher then the councle outer buildings that are already there, i got a letter today saying that someone has complained about my birds and they are comeing round on tuesday to have a look. im real p.ssed of coz i know what the councle are like they will make me get rid just because someone complained.
PIGEON_MAN Posted June 30, 2007 Report Posted June 30, 2007 Did you not find out when you put the lofts up if you had to stick to certain council rules before erecting them.Most councils have differant rules and regulations which if you stick with them from the start you dont usually get any problems.
Guest Posted June 30, 2007 Report Posted June 30, 2007 no they wont as long as you have permission and they are the size the council recommends then no need to worry ;D ;D ;D
speedbird Posted June 30, 2007 Report Posted June 30, 2007 dont quote me on this but think they have to be around 16ft from any other buildings ie houses ect i contacted the council & they sent me deteails about thissort of problems also try to find out who complained & go and speak to them and try to educate them ie with a leaflet telling them all about pigeon racing think what may concern the person that complained is having seeing what a mess wild/street pigeons do it worked for me when i set up in the back garden now the neigbours are fine with no problems hope this helps
Guest Posted June 30, 2007 Report Posted June 30, 2007 Johnny the first concern is are there any restrictions in your deeds which say that you can not keep livestock? Or if you are in a council house or one that is bought you are likely to have some restriction which says you must have permission from the Council. In terms of planning Speedbird is bascilly right you r lofts must not be within 5 metres of your or your neighbour's external wall, or if you back on to a road your loft must be 5 metres away and for flat roofs must be no more than 9' off the floor and for Apex I think it is 12' but I may be out by a foot , either way. However all is not lost if you have infringed these regulations; these are planning regs and if you compl i.e. have not broken any of those regs then you do not have to apply for permission. If you have broken them then you will still be allowed to apply retrospectively. When I moved to Barnsley in 1999, I made sure that my house had no covenants in the deeds that prohibited keeping livestock or specifically pigeons. However I was not aware that my lofts had to be 5 metres from the exterior of my house and my loft was actually only 3' from my conservatory. My neighbour complained and planning told me that I would have to apply retrospectively which cost £120 I think it was. All the lads in my club thought I'd had it becasue Barnsley Council had got quite tough with pigeon fanciers and made as I understand quite a few take their lofts down however, I firstly asked planning if there were any objections other than the fact that I was closer than 5 metres. They told me my neighbour had complained of rats in my garden, and that my birds were outside all day and that my loft was smack back on their perimeter fence. I was able to show my neighbour lied on all counts, they had twice previouslycomplained to me about rats, I had the rat man out both times and he said they were talking through their *expletive removed*, the second time he gave me a letter confirming no evidence (he was the council rat man to!) I referred the officers to my other neighboure who were more friendly and confirmed my birds were not out all day on the roog and finally when they came they took photographs of the rear of my loft which showed i could easily get around the back of my loft and there were also fir trees on the perimeter fence anyway!! The clincher was that my loft was not an eye sore well maintained and looked good and was not offensive to the eye. I got retrospective permission without any requirement to move my loft 5 metres away!!! When you meet the Council Officers be open and honest and ask thenm for their opinion what doubts they may have and how you can comply with environmental issues they may raise, becasue they are likely to be the biggest issue. HOWEVER if there are no restrictions in your deeds or council housing agreement and you have not broken any of the regulations for planning they can't touch you. The first question to ask the Officers when they call or if you ring on Mondya for information is what are they investigating, , don't be bolshy they are only trying to do their job and the more you can build a friendly relationship with them the more chance you have. The above is supplied from my own personal knowledge and experience and I do not claim what I have written is the dogs bollocks but if you have regard to what I have written I have no doubt you will have a better chance of keeping your loft where it is now Good Luck Alan
schouwman71 Posted June 30, 2007 Report Posted June 30, 2007 MY LOFT IS 2FT OFF MY EXTENTION ON MY HOUSE AND RUNS DOWN THE SIDE OF MY SIDE FENCING,YOU CAN NEARLY TOUCH THE SIDE OF MY LOFT BY REACHING OUTSIDE MY KITCHEN WINDOW,IF YOUR LOFT IS TIDY AND ON A CONCRETE BASE YOU WILL BE OK,YOU ARE ALLOWED 68 CUBIC FEET OF EXTENDED BUILDING,IE SHEDS GARAGES,LOFTS BUT GET THE COUNCIL OUT TO CHECK IT OUT ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED IT AND TELL THEM YOUR ONLY KEEPING A DECENT AMOUNT OF BIRDS,I HAD SOMEONE OUT ONCE I ERECTED MINE AND SHE WAS EVER SO PLESENT AND ALSO SENT ME A LETTER PLUS MY NEIGHBOURS THAT I WAS ALLOWED TO HAVE MY LOFT AND BIRDS ON MY BACK GARDEN.LES
Roland Posted June 30, 2007 Report Posted June 30, 2007 And they can't, and don't have a 'Right' to inspect your loft(s). That would take some channels and doing ... Even the Enviromental department can't insist that you allow them a view. Mind best not upset them if it can be avoided.
Guest Posted June 30, 2007 Report Posted June 30, 2007 Don't know if this would be of interest? I would still advise him to contact the BHW planning expert 'scribe' Ronald Shirley urgently (a member of Synwell club in Gloucestershire. An architect in private practice for over 30 years, he specialises in pigeon planning appeals and planning law. Maybe get his contact details from BHW or a forum member?
Guest Posted June 30, 2007 Report Posted June 30, 2007 Paulo already had the contact details Yeah get in touch with the people in local authority planning will normally be the city or district council. Can be restrictions on size etc especially if your house is a council house. Another thing is new houses can be a problem as they have restrictive covents in place on keeping livestock etc (might lower the tone of the posh new estate what). There's a guy in the british homing worl studbook whose an architect who specalises in this sort of thing especially if the local authority says you can't have a loft his details are as follows:- Ronald Shirley 01453 843 180 e-mail shazz@gotads1.co.uk He offers a special service for RPRA members knowing what poxy architects are like prob means he charges you twice as much. If you do need some advice without paying for it if you get problems chuck me a pm I'm an asbestos surveyor but I'm currently doing my honours degree in building surveying at Northumbria Uni. I also work closely with chartered building surveyors in a local authority dept with the planners so I should be able to get you some decent advice somewhere. However to be fair to Ronald as a speciallist in this sort of work he'll prob have it sussed however he may be expensive most architects are. Plus everybody knows an architect is just a frustrated artist or a building surveyor with half his brains and common sense removed. Hope this helps you mate
johnyboy Posted June 30, 2007 Author Report Posted June 30, 2007 i had permision from the councle and the Enviromental department 3 years ago
Roland Posted July 1, 2007 Report Posted July 1, 2007 Ronnies is a nice contact to have in tow I'll wager. Mind Brussels is very pro pigeon I guess ....
Guest Greig the doo Drysdale Posted July 2, 2007 Report Posted July 2, 2007 We had our lofts in an alotment and the council payed us all £1000 each to move them as they were building houses o I said I would move mine to the house and the council said ok if you have any complains from the neighbours then get in touch with her again and she will give me a letter to say it was ok and they were trying to do away with my human rights so you should be ok mate. I will keep my fingers crossed for you
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