External works
These were actually finished when we were back in Littleton in May.
The garden remains unplanted; we had to submit plans to West Dorset District Council for the landscaping, which we duly did on 17th January (they are apparently not interested in what we do at the back; thier only concerns are the front and side borders. Despite chasing them over Easter, we heard nothing until an e mail on 4th July with further questions. As we were on the high seas at the time, answering these was our first priority on our return in August.
In mid September, we received more feedback including:
a) I hadn't stated in the maintenance plan that I would be watering the garden during spells of dry weather (even though it had been clearly stated that this house was for our own occupation)
b) they didn't like the vast expanse of wall on the south face - why hadn't we put a window in there to break it up (er - perhaps it was because it was one of the specific terms of the planning permission, issued by the same body, that there wasn't a window on this face) and so we would need to plant
some climbing plants on that border.
We sent back a firm and frosty e mail (sense my tone) asking them if they would be prepared to take responsibility for the stone cladding dropping off if climbing plants took root in the wall. I will give the landscape officer her due - she phoned us back the very next day, hastily backing off from this suggestion but saying she wished she had been involved in our plans earlier. I did explode and point out that much time and building had taken place in since 17th January, to which she replied she would be approving our landscaping plans. I feel very sorry for the councils have to run such vital services on such tight budgets.
The plants have now been ordered, through Castle Gardens, Sherborne, who along with Jane Dean and Barbara Elsmore, have been incredibly helpful, advising me on what is suitable, and will be planted next summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment