Problems with Planning Permission

BullBauld

Hello
If this is in the wrong forum I apologise(move if necessary)

Right I'll try not to draw this out too much.

Approx 2 1/2 years ago my Sister and I applied for planning permission for 2 houses beside each other on our family land. It was on a main road about a mile outside of town. Eventually(after a ton load of extra info supplied - the usual) I was granted permission but my Sister was refused. I'd say I might have been refused aswell only for my case included that I'd be taking over the family farm in years to come.

So my sister appealed the decision(to an Bord Planeala) but got nowhere.
She decided to apply for planning on a different site, accross the road behind my grandmothers house(my grandmother had recently died) which was vacant with a view to eventually knocking the existing dwelling.
This application got threw no problem with the only major condition being a 10 year embargo(section 47) on further building on our land.

Now fast forward to today, the other day we got a letter(which included maps) from the Planning Office. It showed my sisters site but not mine.
When contacted the po said that there is a section 47 on the land and my sister is the only person entitled to build.
When they were told I already had planning permission they started waffling on about wrong maps at the time my sister & father signed the section 47 and there is no planning for another house(despite me getting it 2 1/2 years ago)
I haven't started building yet, dunno whether thats a good thing or not considering the hoohaa the po are making over this.

So the jist is I got planning permission 2 1/2 years ago, in the meantime my Sister got permission aswell but with a section 47 coming into play. Now the planning office are saying there is no permission for my house.

I hope I have explained it clearly and it makes sense, these type of things can complicated.

If anyone had similar problems or is in the know and can offer some advice I'd appreciate it.
I can see this dragging with alot of solicitors fees to pay!!!!

Thanks

Bull

davidoco

Send in a commencement notice for your site with the €25 or whatever it is. They will send you an acknowledgement and you really are then free to build. You must have a “Grant of Planning” document not just a Notice of intention to grant planning.

Sponge Bob

davidoco wrote:

Send in a commencement notice for your site with the €25 or whatever it is. They will send you an acknowledgement and you really are then free to build. You must have a “Grant of Planning” document not just a Notice of intention to grant planning.

Make sure you you thru every inch of your planning file and that your solicitor then does the same and ye take copies of every document in case the planners slipped this in without telling you to cover their arses although I think not. You could then have to prove they did so by getting a computer forensics done on their document management system .

Once you have the file copied in full, and your solicitor does too THEN maybe do as David suggested. If not in the original decision notice granting planning with conditions and/or planners report in that file it cannot be added afterwards .

Section 47 of planning act 2000 may not even have been in force when you got your permission , or maybe its in recent county development plan that does not apply to you but does to your sis so check them too. If a section 47 agreement to restrict development exists it would be between your oul fella and the council and would be on your file and would affect your sister, eg you got permission and therefore no permissions would be allowed on your fathers land for 10 years, something like that, read it yourself here.

It cannot apply retroactively if your oul fella did such a deal to get your sisters permission as you already had permission. It will apply going forward to other family members though.

An inurement or enurement clause as in the past tied up the person who got the permission, section 47 ties up the seller when they first come in contact with the planning department. a section 47 cannot apply until permission is first sought to build on a persons land.

While one should never ever underestimate the dishonesty of local authority planners in Ireland or their sheer incompetence and supreme arrogance either. An administrative cockup like this , if it is a cockup, has nothing to do with the Bord Pleanála but is best dealt with in the High Court. Example of what I mean here

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=784457&issue_id=7683

On the other hand I have a stronger suspicion, on reflection, that everybodys old friend the family solicitor may be responsible for this situation. What steps were taken to transfer your site into your name after the permission was granted to you but BEFORE your sister applied on the second site. PM me if you wish with senstive details rather than post them here .

If your family solicitor cockup up and sent the lands map to the council or gave your father the lands map to send to the council including your site which should have been left out becuase it was in the process of being transferred to you then the very first thing you will need is your OWN solicitor , there is a serious conflict of interest there. Your family solicitor will have to explain his error and get your bit taken off in that case. That may require you have your own solicitor to hassle him.

OTOH if your father never instructed the familiy solicitor to transfer your site to you , these things are often left on the long finger, and sent in an 'old 'map to the council including your lands then its your fathers fault and the family solicitor will be needed to help clarify the issue with the council .

You may take it that the net effect of the section 47 is most likely that nobody will get permission on your fathers lands for 10 years whether family or not but you need to find out who supplied the map, when , and then figure out how to amend it. It will may affect you getting a mortgage as long as the map appears to impair your entitlement to build.

The lesson for anyone else who reads this is roughly that if your local council uses section 47 powers as they are now entitled to then there will be only one site per family farm in future unless the farm is somehow 'split' before the planning permissions are sought (half with father and half with mother for example) . A section 47 can be alifetime section 47 not just a 10 year one.

I do not think it should prove too expensive at all, solicitor wise, if you can clarify the sequence behind the imposition of the section 47 but it may take some time.

HTH