It's ridiculous that we're in this state of affairs. People using the power of the state to restrict what others can do on their own private property because "it's ugly".

There are real reasons to block development, like industrial waste or noise, but this is ridiculous. Even housing NIMBYs can come up with more convincing reasons like pressure on local services or traffic.

This kind of interference with property rights should be impossible. The UK's planning system is unfit for purpose and is far too local. Locality always means that locals will block anything they can due to being change-averse, ignoring reason or morality.