Environmental permit and neighbour law: get clear advice

Questioner

In response to the following answer from Mr. Van Binsbergen dated 16 October 2014: 'However, if the environmental permit requires an exemption to be granted for deviation from the zoning plan, the municipality must take into account the neighbour's rights if it is evident that the neighbour's rights are being violated. In your case, that is the case in my opinion. In that case, the municipality may not grant the permit.' This concerns a roof terrace/balcony for which an environmental permit has been granted but the neighbours have not given permission based on the neighbour law (BW book 5 art 50). Why will the municipality not be allowed to grant the permit in this case? And is there anything else possible if the objection period has expired?

Lawyer

The presence or absence of private-law permission is not a basis for assessment when granting an environmental permit.

Questioner

Thanks for your response. I have read that if there is a private law impediment with an obvious character, an environmental permit with application of art.2:12 Wabo, the environmental permit may not be granted. When is there an obvious character? Could there be an obvious character in this case: the neighbours have built an extension of 4 metres deep over the entire width of the rear facade. These are semi-detached town houses. The extension protrudes beyond our home, which means that from the roof terrace there is a close-up view (approx. 40 cm) into our conservatory, dining room and kitchen (which has windows over the entire width). In addition, there is a view of the entire garden. A permit has been granted for the extension and the roof terrace, unfortunately we as neighbours were not informed about this and only saw this when construction had started and the objection procedure had expired. We did not grant permission.

Lawyer

If you have allowed the objection period to pass without lodging an objection and the permit has been announced in the legal manner (i.e. in a local newspaper distributed door-to-door), then the permit is irrevocable and you can no longer do anything about it, even if the permit was granted incorrectly. The only thing you can do is take direct action against your neighbours if what they want to build violates your property rights (building on or above your land) or is in conflict with neighbour law (roof terrace within 2 metres of the property line with a view of your property) or causes such a nuisance to you that it can be considered unlawful (e.g. all light is taken away from your property).