Ordered to remove new windows - conservation area -anyone experienced it?

A friends windows in her house were knackered so she replaced them with PVC ones. Exactly the same style as the old ones, just not wood.

At lease 30 houses on the same street have PVC windows of varying styles. One house even has some hideous roller blind thing!

Anyway, the council have decided that she must remove them and replace them with wooden ones. Yes, she should have checked, but as half the street has PVC windows, many of which are awful and certainly not in the sytle of the originals she didn't think it would be a problem.

She can appeal, but does anyone know what they take into consideration?

Has anyone been through anything similar?

she probably needs to get proper legal advice

it would also be worthwhile asking the neighbours if the same thing has happened to them

Tell the council to go swizzle, if the neigbours have pvc than i can't see the problem.

Tell your friend to tell them they can't afford to replace them due to cutbacks and would get some legal advice aswell.

A friends windows in her house were knackered so she replaced them with PVC ones. Exactly the same style as the old ones, just not wood.

 

At lease 30 houses on the same street have PVC windows of varying styles. One house even has some hideous roller blind thing!

 

Anyway, the council have decided that she must remove them and replace them with wooden ones. Yes, she should have checked, but as half the street has PVC windows, many of which are awful and certainly not in the sytle of the originals she didn't think it would be a problem.

 

She can appeal, but does anyone know what they take into consideration?

 

Has anyone been through anything similar?

Whats the street name and area?

She was quoted silly money to replace them all with wooden ones which is why she bought PVC. She won't be lying if she tells them she can't afford to replace them!

She went out of her way to replace them with exactly the same style windows when other designs would have been more practical. I think she intends to ask some of the other residents if they have had problems with the council, I just thought I would ask on here.

It is a Sheffield suburb. Sorry, I don't want to be any more precise unless you have a particular reason for asking.

She was quoted silly money to replace them all with wooden ones which is why she bought PVC. She won't be lying if she tells them she can't afford to replace them!

 

She went out of her way to replace them with exactly the same style windows when other designs would have been more practical. I think she intends to ask some of the other residents if they have had problems with the council, I just thought I would ask on here.

 

It is a Sheffield suburb. Sorry, I don't want to be any more precise unless you have a particular reason for asking.

It’s hard giving an opinion on whether the council are right or wrong without seeing the street.

been there, got the T-shirt

assuming section 4 applies then yes, the council can make her replace her new windows.

the fitter should have explained the implications to her.

What is a conservation area?

Local authorities have the power (under Section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990) to designate as conservation areas, any area of special architectural or historic interest. This means the planning authority has extra powers to control works and demolition of buildings to protect or improve the character or appearance of the area

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/local/conservation-areas/

Some of the Conservation Areas have only been designated in the last 5 Years.

Perhaps the neighbours' uPVC windows pre-date the designation?

The fact that the are not enforcing the rules even on the same street should be enough grounds to win an appeal or some other legal action.

A friends windows in her house were knackered so she replaced them with PVC ones. Exactly the same style as the old ones, just not wood.

 

At lease 30 houses on the same street have PVC windows of varying styles. One house even has some hideous roller blind thing!

 

Anyway, the council have decided that she must remove them and replace them with wooden ones. Yes, she should have checked, but as half the street has PVC windows, many of which are awful and certainly not in the sytle of the originals she didn't think it would be a problem.

 

She can appeal, but does anyone know what they take into consideration?

 

Has anyone been through anything similar?

I'd just tell the jobsworths at the council to sod off. If double (or triple) glazed energy saving UPV windows were around 100 years ago (along with cavity walls), builders (and the Council who paid them) would've jumped at the choice. Same as energy saving streetlights and collecting your rubbish every second week is now the 'energy saving' norm, to save money and make Sheffield a 'greener' city. I may be wrong here, but if you live on a street with at lest 30 similar houses, your friend may well be living in a terraced house.

As well as being banned from parking outside your own house (unless you pay, for some magical reason, only benownst by the Council), they now demand that you spend massive amounts of dosh on wooden windows, to replace the previous rotten ones (for 'in keeping' with the other, more sensible UPVC alternarives ... easier to fit, no maintainance, energy efficient ... blah, blah , blah), whilst they're quite happy to destroy the aspect with probably four different coloured wheelie bins and roads only fit for four-wheeled drive vehicles with uprated suspensions (due to potholes), and erect massively expensive propeller driven electric turbines which have been proven time and time again not to work and destroy the countryside.

Unless your friend lives in a 'Graded building' which to anyone with a nounce of common sense or intellect, does not include a Victorian or Edwardian tenement building (which most of us live in), UPVC is the way to go!

Also, tell your friend to bear in mind, you can get free insulation to any of these buildings, irrespective of your financial circumstances, to make these buildings more energy efficient.

There's a slight juxtaposition here, when the Council are to make their new poorly designed buildings (at tax-payers expense), are more than happy to build 'state of the art' glass buildings (saves on bricklaying and any surviving formal skills) ... made out of Teflon-coated, water resistant 'back hander' tax-glass (joke here about fenestration tax, which I can't be bothered to entertain) and spit and polish from the resident 'Lord Mayor/ess (blessed by non other than God, I presume [who in their right mind voted, unless for monetary reasons?]) ... sending people to prison for fitting modern glazing at 27, Normal Street is unquestionable. Shame on your friend!

Is this in netheredge? I'm sorry, but the conservation areas were created for a reason, and the council do enforce them. It sounds like your friend was aware, but chose to ignore the situation

Cgk is right. The conservation order covers the removal of upvc, and insists on it being replaced with wood

The good news is that it's only windows in public view that are covered, so you can have tacky plastic ones on the back if you really want

been there, got the T-shirt

 

 

assuming section 4 applies then yes, the council can make her replace her new windows.

 

 

the fitter should have explained the implications to her.

 

 

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/local/conservation-areas/

Has this happened to you? What was the result? did you appeal?

---------- Post added 10-12-2012 at 17:25 ----------

Is this in netheredge? I'm sorry, but the conservation areas were created for a reason, and the council do enforce them. It sounds like your friend was aware, but chose to ignore the situation

 

Cgk is right. The conservation order covers the removal of upvc, and insists on it being replaced with wood

 

The good news is that it's only windows in public view that are covered, so you can have tacky plastic ones on the back if you really want

In which case the conservation area was created 20 years too late. Half the street has plastic windows, in the last couple of years at least one property has ripped the front garden out and converted it into giant car park. Others have roller blinds. She cold have left the rotten windows in, just to be in keeping with the other grotty houses.

Interesting to see what they class as in view. Probably most of them.