by Ray George
I sometimes look at the notices on lampposts. It may turn out to be about a lost cat or more frequently, a planning application. I was surprised to see one for installation of a satellite antenna on the rear elevation. My surprise was because a planning decision in 2004, based on the opinion of a City Council law officer, was that planning permission was not required.
How can this be, you may ask? The Notice of the Article 4 Direction for this Conservation Area clearly requires planning permission for a satellite antenna anywhere (see Design Guidance, page 32). But things are not so simple. The letter on behalf of the Secretary of State said that the Direction may be approved insofar as it relates to either the side or front elevations of a building. Something went wrong. Either because the man at the ministry, when amending the order with his red ballpen, forgot to add “on its front or side elevations” to the paragraph on satellite antennas, or the City Council in its Notice, failed to state that the overarching scope of Article 4 Direction was “as it relates to either the side or front elevations of a building”.
I have recently received a letter from the City Council to say that their Law Department agrees with the advice given in 2004 and so they will no longer ask for planning applications in relation to satellite antennas on the rear of properties.