Landcaping in planning: Is it ever checked?

ThePiedPiper

Like most people, our planning had loads of trees and hedges, etc, etc dotted all over the site.. Somewhere in the conditions, it talks about submitting this to the council and adhering to it... Is this ever checked? How many years do I have to get it done? Or are the council happy enough that the house is built per planning and not concerned about the landscaping?

Jimbo

Nobody on this site is going to advise you not to comply with your planning conditions.

Planning authoritys can and have in the past enforced compliance of landscaping conditions.

Landscaping can form a very important part in screnning your house and helping it sit into the landscape.

If you are unhappy with the landscaping plan agreed, you can make a submission to your planning authority with a revised proposal and ask them to consider it in lieu of the agreed one.

Just keep in mind where the PA might want screening in your particular case.

ThePiedPiper

I wasn't intending not complying with the planning conditions.. I was wondering how long I had to get it done.. Are the council likely to be onto me about it when I move into the house or is there a couple of years leeway? I'm more thinking in terms of the cost of planting 150 metres of hedging around the boundary, trees, etc. and would prefer to leave this cost for a year or two.

Our house is at the very end of a lane, can't be seen from any public road and isn't overlooked or overlooking any other property. From this point of view, screening, etc doesn't really seem relevant..

The neighbour to the rear of us, had as one of his conditions to plant a screening hedge to the rear of his site.

He planted a hedge, but it failed (wrong time of year), he never replaced until we started building some seven years later, the hedge is now only just starting to screen the house.

Had he have planted it right the first time, the hedge would be mature now.

We ended up with the same condition on our application, but as he'd already replanted his hedge we didn't do anything.

PS we are not dodging a planning condition as it only stated that there needed to be "a screening hedge".

RunForestRun

RunForestRun wrote: »

I wasn't intending not complying with the planning conditions.. I was wondering how long I had to get it done.. Are the council likely to be onto me about it when I move into the house or is there a couple of years leeway? I'm more thinking in terms of the cost of planting 150 metres of hedging around the boundary, trees, etc. and would prefer to leave this cost for a year or two.

Our house is at the very end of a lane, can't be seen from any public road and isn't overlooked or overlooking any other property. From this point of view, screening, etc doesn't really seem relevant..

For me it was the stated that landscape planting needed to be started within the first full year of occupancy to facilitate planting at the correct time.

As it was I planted the screening to the sides in the first season during construction, they take an age to grow!

ThePiedPiper

Deleted User wrote: »

For me it was the stated that landscape planting needed to be started within the first full year of occupancy to facilitate planting at the correct time.

As it was I planted the screening to the sides in the first season during construction, they take an age to grow!

Thanks Dolanbaker.. just checked conditions, it's the same thing I have indeed..
With my original planning however, the engineer had the whole thing marked with hedges, trees, etc. The condition stated that landscaping plan was to be submitted to them a month from grant of permission. Between looking for builders, mortgages, and 1001 other things, we overlooked this.
When I gave the council the commencement money (€4,000 or so), this was never mentioned to me. Would the landscaping on my planning suffice or am I required to go back to them?
In no way am I trying to dodge any areas of planning, I'm just unsure of what my requirements are in this regard.

I was asked to comment on my landscaping once, I just sent in a siteplan with proposed hedging marked "native hedging plants" (or something like that), I never heard from them again!

May be different now as they have more time on their hands.

muffler

If the PA have imposed a condition that you submit a detailed landscaping scheme for their approval/consideration then you will have to do that. Regardless of the time frame you will still need to do it and I would advise implementing it then on site as someone will have to sign off on all your planning conditions.

MacTheKnife1

Planting a hedge is actually very cheap. Especially if you buy small trees. They cost maybe 1 euro each as bare roots. Some even cost less than 1 euro!

It will provide terrific shelter against wind and help reduce your heating costs once it is grown - as average wind speed on your site will drop.

It will provide varying colour throughout the year.

It will provide fruit/nuts for your family if you choose varieties like hazel/apple/wild pear.

It will provide biodiversity. Do you really want to live on a site where the only species are rye grass and bed bugs?

My site has mature hedging along about 1/3 of the boundary, the remainder was planted with hawthorn using bareroot plants plus a few red beech for variety.

This winter I intend to take a few saplings (species unknown) from the "headland" next to the mature hedge and infill gaps in the new hedging to make the hedges more natural.

aujopimur

It may never be checked but you could have a problem when it comes to selling.

mickdw

I know of a case where Roscommon Co.Co. requested a bond to ensure the completion of 35k worth of landscaping on a single house! Dont f*ck with the planners!

mickdw

mickdw wrote: »

I know of a case where Roscommon Co.Co. requested a bond to ensure the completion of 35k worth of landscaping on a single house! Dont f*ck with the planners!

That must have been some house!

Can only imagine the site was overlooked in a very sensitive area.

ThePiedPiper

Cheers all,
been looking at different hedges, etc so think i'll see can we do any planting this side of winter.. definitely plan on doing it, just didn't know of the timeframe... a word to my engineer who'll be signing off should sort out when i should do it..
thanks all for the advice.

Bareroot trees are best planted late December-early March, the garden centres have them in around mid December.