Hello
We are currently having major issues with the local municipality reference a building permit for a property we own.
The planning officer is refusing to accept our application for a permit unless we agree (prior to application) that we will move the proposed wall back several meters from our boundary to allow a neighbour to drive across the bottom of garden so he can park his car on his land ( the path to our neighbours house is a footpath not a road and is four and a half feet wide). Our neighbour has complained to the municipality that our wall ( we have cleared the undergrowth in preparation) will be outside our boundary as he has driven across the end of our land on previous occasions (when the site was derelict for a few months prior to our construction).
We have been to the municipality planning office several times over the past few days to apply for the permit but each time we attend the inspector simply says "you will agree to move your wall back from your boundary or I will not grant your permit". They dully admit it's our land but are refusing to even accept our application unless our architects drawings show the wall back from the boundary.
The surrounding properties have no set back and as such ours would not have to have one as stated by their own planning guidelines!
When we question this the inspector just says "it's the law". He agrees that its our land and as such the neighbour has no access to it, so without a wall he can't drive his car across our land anyway. But if we build the wall we must move it back to allocate enough room to get his car in ! ! !
The last time we attended the municipality to apply the inspector literally walked away from the desk and told us we agree or we get out!
We now have our solicitor involved.
Is this common practice among municipality employees? Would complaining to the municipality achieve anything?
We are going in circles and getting really frustrated. Two immediate neighbours knocked down their own old walls as we would be building brand new standard walls which they would obviously get for free. The neighbour who made the complaint lives 150m away and isn't adjoining our land. So now we have our neighbours on our backs wanting us to start but without the permit we legally can't!
What would happen if we just built without the permit, do municipalities actually ever take people to courf/fine for this?
Any advice would be most appreciate,
Thanks