Two articles in the Daily Mail have just caught my attention, both involving planning permission.

Neath Port Talbot Council has prohibited Jonathan and Emma Jones from living in their converted barn, even though they had planning permission, because part of the original wall had to be demolished for safety reasons.

So much for ‘Elf and Safety. It obviously flies out the window when the Council Nazis have something bigger and better they can implement to mess up your plans.

The couple are permitted to let their dream house out to holidaymakers to ‘diversify the rural economy and support the tourist industry’. Meanwhile they are living in his dad’s farmhouse.

The other story is about the 4 mile long, 6 1/2ft high wall the owners of Ascot Palace want built around the perimeter of their 400 acre estate. The Mail reckons this will consist of enough bricks to build 150 five-bedroom houses.

But after the council’s decision to grant permission for the wall without any consultation, the estate’s neighbours are fighting back.

The Palace happens to be owned by the Abu Dhabi royal family who are billionaires, naturally. They bought the estate for £19 million pounds in 1989. That’s probably the equivalent of fifty quid to me.

Meanwhile, the Joneses in South Wales are banned from living in their own house because someone in the local Council doesn’t understand the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. No surprise there.

I was thinking that there should be a Ministry of Common Sense, but then I thought, no.

Who could possibly staff it?