Sample objection letter (fictional, labelled as a sample)
This is a shortened sample of an objection letter. The names, address and application are made up; your letter is written from your facts and the public application. It is a representation to the council, not legal advice.
Re: Application 26/01234/HSE, two-storey rear extension at 14 Example Road
Dear Planning Officer, I am the owner-occupier of 12 Example Road, the semi-detached house immediately adjoining the application site on its western side. I wish to object to the application on the planning grounds set out below. I have read the submitted drawings (numbers 01 to 04) and the Design and Access Statement. 1. Overbearing effect and loss of outlook. The proposed extension would project approximately 6 metres beyond the existing rear wall along our shared boundary, two storeys high, with a flat roof at about 6.2 metres (drawing 03). From my kitchen and rear garden this would present a solid brick wall at the boundary of roughly 6 metres by 6 metres. In my view this exceeds the depth the council’s own householder design guidance describes as acceptable for a two-storey rear extension on a semi-detached house, and I ask the council to apply that guidance here. 2. Loss of light. My kitchen window and the first 15 metres of my garden face that boundary and receive their direct sunlight in the morning. Drawing 03 shows eaves at roughly 3 metres at the single-storey element and 6 metres at the two-storey element; this would place the kitchen window and most of the garden in shadow for much of the morning. I ask the council to assess the daylight and sunlight effect on my habitable rooms, with a 45-degree test from my kitchen window. 3. Overlooking and privacy. The proposed first-floor side window (drawing 02, west elevation) would face directly into my first-floor rear bedroom at a distance of about 4 metres. If the council is minded to approve, I ask that this window be obscure-glazed and fixed shut below 1.7 metres by condition. I have no objection to my neighbour improving their home, and I would not object to a single-storey extension of the same depth. I ask that the application be refused in its current form. Yours faithfully, [Name], 12 Example Road
The 7 points a council will weigh (and what it will ignore)
Councils weigh: loss of light or sunlight; overlooking and loss of privacy; overbearing size and loss of outlook; the design and character of the street or a conservation area; parking, access and highway safety; noise and disturbance from the use; effect on protected trees or wildlife. Councils ignore: loss of a view; loss of property value; a dispute with the neighbour; building work noise; the applicant’s motives; boundary and covenant disputes (those are civil matters). A letter that uses the first list, cites the drawing numbers, and leaves out the second list is the one that gets weighed.