The title says it all! Today, Monday, June 2nd, 2014, the town planning coordinator said that we can move to 'advertising'. This means that council is happy to approve our proposed plans, considering the locals are happy too. So it's not quite 100% approved yet, but very very soon this will be the case.
Advertising involves displaying the permit for the proposed additions out the front of our house, which outlines what the renovation is, i.e. extension to current dwelling. If I am not mistaken, advertising is for two weeks. In this period neighbours have the opportunity to lodge objections. Council decides whether or not a complaint (if any - ideally none) is worth taking further. From what I've heard, a lot of complaints are stupid and don't have much ground to stand on considering plans are within the guidelines of council. One of our neighbours said that there is a neighbour around the corner (so really, not directly impacted at all) who objects to a lot of plans because she wants the local area to remain unchanged. What I say is, all that anyone will see from the street is the outside of our house from the front. Considering this council is so strict on keeping the facades untouched, the look of the local area won't be dramatically changed by our renovation. The upper level extension even has to be hidden from the street view. I think we are doing the area a favour making our house pretty again.
Advertising involves displaying the permit for the proposed additions out the front of our house, which outlines what the renovation is, i.e. extension to current dwelling. If I am not mistaken, advertising is for two weeks. In this period neighbours have the opportunity to lodge objections. Council decides whether or not a complaint (if any - ideally none) is worth taking further. From what I've heard, a lot of complaints are stupid and don't have much ground to stand on considering plans are within the guidelines of council. One of our neighbours said that there is a neighbour around the corner (so really, not directly impacted at all) who objects to a lot of plans because she wants the local area to remain unchanged. What I say is, all that anyone will see from the street is the outside of our house from the front. Considering this council is so strict on keeping the facades untouched, the look of the local area won't be dramatically changed by our renovation. The upper level extension even has to be hidden from the street view. I think we are doing the area a favour making our house pretty again.
Once we get the all clear from council re objections I believe we get final approval. There is a small process of sorting out the nitty-gritty details, like a "walk-through" of the house to decide shelf heights, window designs, faucet types. Well those are the examples I've been given anyway. The proper name escapes me right now. I think it goes in hand with "tendering" which is along the lines of seeking potential builders and discussing their costs. Either way, I think it sounds a lot like what an interior designer decides on and designs for their clients. So it should be right up my alley! We have to go back to the architects for this process. I am not entirely sure if it happens during advertising or after or before final approval or what else, but I am positive I will be learning when very soon.
You might recall the few objections the council initially made about our first submission. My parents went back to the architects to discuss them. The architect sent an email today to the town planner in question. Some of the things we responded with are as paraphrased below (my comments in the brackets):
Issue: That the exterior of the upstairs addition should match the (ugly unaesthetically pleasing) materials of the west neighbour's second storey.
Response: We do not understand the comment re the materials of the two-storey addition on the west...it is a single storey.
Response: We do not understand the comment re the materials of the two-storey addition on the west...it is a single storey.
(They do actually have a two-storey dwelling but it is next door to our garage, not the main house which is only one storey.)
Issue: That the two-storey addition is too close to the heritage roof line.
Response: The proposed second storey is some 2.5 metres from the existing roofline...entirely generous!
(I think they were just knit-picking).
Issue: Move the stairs.
Response: It is difficult to move the stairs off the
boundary; in any case it would need to be one metre off the boundary for building and fire
regulations, which would result in the first storey being too narrow. The stair direction minimises impact on west neighbours and street frontage. The proposed configuration allows for northern light and southerly sea-breezes. Internally, it allows for optimal spatial configuration and traffic flow.
(Oh please, if you have an issue with these stairs, you try designing the house with the
stairs anywhere else but the boundary. If we move the stairs, we re-do
the entire floor plan. Trust me, I have experimented with SO many stair
configurations for this house and this is the only logical concept!)
Considering after those responses, along with a few others, were sent to the council today that the town planner responded with "Let's go to advertising", I think it is a very positive outcome. I am quite optimistic that we will achieve final approval within the coming weeks.
Soon we will be shopping for carpet and tiles and door handles and I seriously cannot wait!
Happy, happy Monday, I hope all of my readers have a super duper week.
XO
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