Do hope you get your permit so you can carry on with your projects!
Living in a rural area it seems so funny to have to have permission for doing stuff like that and it would be disappointed if they didn't allow it!
With the people stopping to watch you practice at least you know they appreciate and like it! That said it is a good idea to have a natural screen of ivy or something for your privacy and so you don't have that distraction in your practices!
Haha... yes, it would seem weird that you need approval... I think for us, it is more of a formality... but for larger projects, I could imagine that you would have direct impacts on your neighbours and things like that...