I fought the council for MONTHS over a massive planning blunder – here’s how I won
A FAMILY who fought the council for months over a massive planning blunder at their home have finally won their case.
Jackie and James McCormack moved into their dream three-bed new-build property last February after seven viewings.
But within a day the pair realised their £325,000 home - located just nine feet from a busy A road - was completely unliveable.
Jackie, 60, previously told The Sun: "I knew it was a busy road - there’s no getting away from that.
"I would be stupid if I didn’t think it was a busy road. But this - how could I have known?"
When The Sun visited the grandparents at their property in Coleshill, Warwickshire, noise levels smashed 85 decibels when a wagon rattled past.
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Health experts advise ear protection if working in environments above this reading - equivalent to some power tools.
Meanwhile a separate test saw the volume in the garden measure well above the 120 decibels heard at a rock concert.
The pair now wear earplugs thanks to thunderous traffic hurtling down the A446 - but the vibrations are so bad their "bones rattle";.
As well as the noise, the couple cannot open their windows for ventilation.
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Amid the hell, Jackie filed a complaint saying her "quality of life and mental health have suffered", reported.
And she blasted estate agents for not being forthcoming about the 70mph route, used by traffic to bypass the M6 Toll.
During the mammoth 17-month row, the grandparents were subjected to a horrendous campaign of abuse by trolls who ridiculed their decision-making.
But it has now emerged North Warwickshire Borough Council failed to properly acknowledge the conditions of the planning permission for their property.
In a report, the Housing Ombudsman found the council had granted planning permission "without seeing a noise assessment report" and failing to show why one was not needed.
It also slammed the council for installing a ventilation system which did not do the job properly.
After admitting fault, the council offered to replace the windows and help resell their home if efforts to reduce noise did not work - but the pair turned this down.
A second claim form the McCormacks contaminated land at the property was thrown out.
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A statement from the authority read: "The Council has offered to implement the works that would have been required via the noise condition at its own expense.
"However Mr and Mrs McCormack have refused permission for this to happen."
