Housing planning and Disablity Discrimination Act

jaypa · July 2017

My husband and I have made an application to the local council to have a new bungalow built on an acre of land we own. One of the reasons for a bunglaow is that I have a neurological illness and need a property on one level for my wheelchair, AND the bunglaow would be adapted to cater for my future deterioration (we live in a house atm and this is the only way we can afford to move to a bungalow). Unfortunately, the application has been rejected by the local authority. ONe of the reasons is:
"Whilst the Planning Authority is sympathetic to the long term care needs of the applicant’s wife, no evidence has been submitted to demonstrate that such need exists now or indeed can be
guaranteed to exist in the future".
Can anyone tell me if they are allowed to mention this as it is published on their website (I have plenty - it's just I believe this is could be against the Disablity Discrimination Act).
I'd appreciate any comments.

Geoark · July 2017

Hello @jaypa and welcome to the community.

If you believe the application was rejected based on your needs and disability then it may potentially be a breach of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). On the other hand if your objection is to the statement you have quoted and believe it has disclosed personal information about yourself then this would be a data protection issue.

As planning applications are public documents which anyone can view and object to it comments on the lack of supporting information to back up what was put into the application. I am by no means an expert on this sort of issue, but do not believe this would constitute a breach in the Data Protection Act (DPA).

Planning authorities can only make decisions based on the evidence given and related issues, ie conservation areas, green belt areas and other document which may be relevant to the area you are/were planning to build on. While you may have plenty of evidence of your disability if this was not disclosed then they only have your husbands word on it, no evidence.

You may find it helpful to arrange a meeting with one of the planning team to go through the objections, including the issues with your health to see if there is a way forward. If you wish to carry on with a complaint based on DDA or DPA I would suggest getting some legal advice, CAB for example, to see if you have a case.

@Sam_Scope do we have anyone who may have better knowledge of these issues?

Sam_Alumni · July 2017

Hi @jaypa welcome to the community, I cant advise on the law at all but I am thinking out loud, if you talked about your impairment as part of the application then are they just responding to your own comments?

Is there an appeal process where you could give evidence to your impairment and the needs you have?

You could get in touch with the law centre.

Debbie_Alumni · July 2017

Hi @jaypa,

You can appeal a planning decision so do consider this option. The local authority has stated that "no evidence has been submitted to demonstrate that such need exists now or indeed can be guaranteed to exist in the future".

Things that you could include as evidence are

an Occupational Therapist's assessment.

Evidence from your GP or other health care professionals

Proof of disability benefits

You say in your post that this was one of the reasons the application was turned down. Have they stated what the other reasons are? It might not make sense to start gathering evidence if there is another legal reason why the application cannot be allowed.

I hope this has helped a little bit though and please do let me know if you need further advice.

Best wishes
Debbie

Housing planning and Disablity Discrimination Act

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