THE TELEPHONE HOUSE NEIGHBOURS ASSOCIATION
37 Church Road
Royal Tunbridge Wells
TN1 1JT
e-mail: telephonehouse@aol.com
internet: http://uk.geocities.com/telephonehouse

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
FAO Martin Harris, Borough Secretary and Solicitor
Town Hall, Royal Tunbridge Wells

27 May 2002

Dear Mr Harris

Telephone House Development – Rights of Light

I refer to Mr John Haynes’ letter of 7 May 2002 which, together with our letter of 1 May 2002, has been copied to you.

Would you please advise us on the following points:

1. Will the Council be able to reimburse us for the cost of light survey bearing in mind the special circumstances of this development. [Will the Council accept full responsibility for the aggrievement residents will suffer due to Policy H6 (a)?]
2. You will recall that the scheme was recommended by officers; there also were errors in the shadow diagrams submitted by the developer and not detected by planning officers (please see http://uk.geocities.com/telephonehouse/shadowdiagram.html); and Policy H6(a).
3. Would you please explain to us the precise right which we have under Section 2 of the 1955 Rights of Light Act? We would be more than happy to meet with you.
4. How does the Council’s Land Charges Section fit into the picture?
5. Would you, as the Senior Manager responsible for the Council’s Land Charges Section, be the person who would negotiate a settlement on our behalf?

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely
Annemarie Topliss
Secretary

The rights of light and loss of light issue

Bizzarely, Policy H6(a) allocated for Telephone House was identical to the two refused planning applications for the Telephone House development. [1st: refused at delegated officers level - 2nd: refused by the Councillors of the Western Area Planning Committee]. It is the most controversial document, produced by the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, leading to the Telephone House Debacle.