Had a short chat with our neighbour that shares the contentious hiatus with our property. He has obviously heard from the council and he wants to sit down with us and chat about the issues regarding our boundary. He says he wants us to build whatever we want out the back, but we need to sort out the other issues in regards to the fence/combined sewer/utilities and services etc.
This is good news! I'm feeling really positive. He has shown that he is not an unreasonable man and doesn't want to perpetuate the ill feelings he had with the previous owners. Excellent.