I’m being forced to EXTEND my driveway by jobsworth council for ridiculous reason… they’re coming for neighbours next

A WOMAN has been left fuming after being forced to extend her driveway by the council for a ridiculous reason.

Michelle Watson from Midlothian, Scotland, reached out to the council to remove a condition on her planning permission for her new driveway.

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But she is now faced with extending her driveway by 60 centimetres as it’s been deemed a “tight fit” by Midlothian council.

The gobsmacked homeowner even provided photographs showing her motor fitting into the drive.

She argued that her car fully fit into the designated space which is the same size as others in her local area.

But the image also showed a neighbour’s car overhanging the pavement and led to enforcement officers heading round again to look at the length of her neighbour’s driveway.

Michelle then appealed to the council’s Local Review Body to remove the condition.

The frustrated homeowner told EdinburghLive.: “The driveway in my property is identical to the ones which are nearby.

“The vehicle I own safely fits the driveway space available. I believe the modifications mentioned is cosmetic and superficial.

“There is a pipeline laid in front of the house, which will prevent any demolition of the wall.

“This type of small scale building work does not have a significant impact on the character of the house, the visual amenity of the area or the amenity of the neighbouring houses.”

The original application for retrospective planning permission for the driveway on Braeside Road South was approved with a condition calling for it to be lengthened from 4.2 metres to 4.8 metres to ensure vehicles did not stick out onto the pavement.

However planners responded to Michelle by saying that her parked car would be “obstructing” the pavement for pedestrians.

A statement said: “The length of the drive at 4.2 metres is much less than the standard 6 metres and may result in parked vehicles overhanging and obstructing the public footway, resulting in pedestrians being required to walk on the carriageway.

“This was clearly evident during the case officer’s site visit in relation to the driveway which had been constructed next door where a car was seen to overhanging the pavement.

“That drive is 4.2 metres long rather than the approved 6m. This will be passed on to the council’s enforcement team to investigate.”

‘HAZARD’

And Councillor Kelly Drummond called on the review body to reject the appeal after members visited the driveway earlier in the day.

She told members: “There is a reason they have the guidelines. It is beyond tight with the compact car that was at the residence so anything any bigger would have been severely overhanging.”

Meanwhile Councillor Dianne Alexander added: “Even with a smaller car I think anyone going along (the pavement) who was blind or even with a stick it might be a hazard for them.”

Michelle now has three months to carry out the changes or face enforcement action after the review body unanimously rejected the appeal.

It comes after a dad said he can’t park on his own drive without damaging his car after the local council made a huge blunder.

Meanwhile a man in Brighton claims he made extra income by renting out extra parking spaces on his driveway.

What are the rules regarding driveways?

Planning permission for driveways is key when creating a new or widening an existing drive.

But in some cases you may be asked to extend your drive if it is not large enough for your car and your motor is deemed “overhanging”.

You can replace or install a new hard surface in front of an existing house without planning permission for driveways if the area is less than five square metres.

If you require a driveway larger than that, you can still avoid the need for planning permission by laying a permeable (or porous) surface – this is as long as the rainwater is directed to a nearby lawn or flower border to drain naturally.

If you are converting some or all of a front garden into a driveway, then you will most likely require a licence and/or planning permission for dropped kerbs from your local authority.