"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
om...
Last October the rules changed and any 'deck' more than 30cm above the
'ground' needs planning permission.

I've been communicating with my local authority, who clearly don't
understand the (prolly badly drawn) legislation.

Very common situation with new builds or extensions is that the patio
doors opening onto the garden are say 45cm above the garden level,
therefore pretty much unusable.

What I'm after is the definition of a 'deck' and 'ground'.

If I were to build a step 15cm high leading onto a deck, how big or little
would that step have to be before it became a 'deck'?

I would say that a step is something that only has transitory use - in
passing from one level to another. As soon as you can use it for another
purpose, such as putting a chair on it, it becomes a raised platform. In
practice, it will be whatever your local building inspector says it is,
unless and until there is a Court rulling on the matter.


If I built a deck over 30 cm high and built a raised bed level with the
edge, how big does that have to be to be classified as 'ground'?...

That is irrelevant. The decking needs planning permission if it is more than
30cm above the *existing* ground level i.e. what it was before you started.
On sloping sites, it will be the lowest point on the ground under the
decking that counts.

Colin Bignell