Development Contribution Scheme charges for a planned development

Hi everyone.

My friend got planning permission recently for a dwelling. He originally applied in early October 2010 to the local authority, but the council got finicky over his ground tests and ordered him to do them again.

Fast fwd onto May 2011 where the weather has improved enough for the site to pass the ground test. It passed and he was given permission in June.
However due to the new edition of the Development Contribution Scheme that was introduced on March 1st 2011, the DCS no longer gives a 50% discount off their Water, roads and Community charges to encourage development in a low populated electoral area, and he has to pay nearly €15000 before he commences building :eek:

Personally i think this is way too excessive in a recession and these charges will never be justified as it is in rural Tipp and there is absolutely nothing in the area in terms of amenities, the roads are a disgrace and the water supply is sh*te. On top of that he pays road tax already and will probably pay water rates in the future.

He has lived in the area his whole life and this is the cost to set up home there before a sod has even been turned.

Circumstances are changing for people on a daily basis but these clowns seem to have no awareness of that fact. Its even more unfair when you think that he applied in October and is still treated as if he applied after March 1st for reasons out of his control. One of the only reasons he wanted to apply is because of the discount other than that he said he wouldn't have bothered.
The house is a big floor area to be honest but that is only to avoid applying for permission to build on in the future if needs be.

What are peoples views on this and the DCS in general?

Poor Uncle Tom

Deleted User wrote: »

....but the council got finicky over his ground tests and ordered him to do them again.

Fast fwd onto May 2011 where the weather has improved enough for the site to pass the ground test. It passed and he was given permission in June.

This is an alarming statement. The test conditions should be the same throughout the year, that's the reason for saturation and double saturation of the test holes before testing. This would indicate that the LA had concerns about the first test and that the second test was 'tweaked' to pass. If this is the case putting a sewerage system on that site could lead to contamination of the watertable, costing everyone in the long run.

Deleted User wrote: »

....However due to the new edition of the Development Contribution Scheme that was introduced on March 1st 2011, the DCS no longer gives a 50% discount off their Water, roads and Community charges to encourage development in a low populated electoral area, and he has to pay nearly €15000 before he commences building :eek:

The DSC is based on the floor area of the proposed house. If it is to be kept down then keep the floor area to a managable size. You could approach your local councillors and find out why they agreed to adopt the new Contributions Scheme and abolish the discount.

Deleted User wrote: »

Personally i think this is way too excessive in a recession and these charges will never be justified as it is in rural Tipp and there is absolutely nothing in the area in terms of amenities, the roads are a disgrace and the water supply is sh*te. On top of that he pays road tax already and will probably pay water rates in the future.

He has lived in the area his whole life and this is the cost to set up home there before a sod has even been turned.

Circumstances are changing for people on a daily basis but these clowns seem to have no awareness of that fact. Its even more unfair when you think that he applied in October and is still treated as if he applied after March 1st for reasons out of his control.

This is just a rant, tbh, if the conditions are as appaling as you say why does he want to build there? Contributions are a part of the planning process now, if someone wants to build, those contributions are payable, it's part of the Planning & Development Act with 9 years now, ranting here is not going to change that.

Deleted User wrote: »

One of the only reasons he wanted to apply is because of the discount other than that he said he wouldn't have bothered.

Then don't build. This is not a good enough reason to build a house. Providing a home for a family, or for yourself, that's the reason for building a house not to avail of a discount in contributions.

Deleted User wrote: »

The house is a big floor area to be honest but that is only to avoid applying for permission to build on in the future if needs be.

That's a cop out, who spends thousands of euros on extra building just in case it's needed in future? If he can afford to do that the contributions should not be an issue.

Deleted User wrote: »

What are peoples views on this and the DCS in general?

You've got my views on your post, on the DCS in general, I genuinely think it should be means tested, I think some LA's charge too little and some charge way over the top, there is no real consistency in it, but remember it is the elected members of the council, the councillors, who voted the current charges into effect in every LA in the country. If we consider that the councillors act for us, the public, then, by extension, it is ourselves who agreed to the charges.

Poor Uncle Tom

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

This is an alarming statement. The test conditions should be the same throughout the year, that's the reason for saturation and double saturation of the test holes before testing. This would indicate that the LA had concerns about the first test and that the second test was 'tweaked' to pass. If this is the case putting a sewerage system on that site could lead to contamination of the watertable, costing everyone in the long run.

I take your point on everything else but your wrong on the second test. It was actually supervised by the local authority.
Im aware of contributions and the need for them but in this case they are way over the top. I don't think the council can justify them. Perhaps in Dublin where there is a bit more infrastructure fair enough but not down here.

Poor Uncle Tom

Okay on the test, it must have been the way I read it, I was waiting for my porridge to cool....:pac:

€15,000 is a hell of a lot to have to pay in contributions all right.

Fair enough i was probably vague about the whole percolation test anyway.

The point im looking at it from is if he got his permission Feb 28th 2011 then his total DCS charge would be €7500 whereas if he got it the next day March 1st it would cost €15000 so from that point of view its harsh as he applied in early October 2010. If things had gone smoothly then he would have got it in early December but the council required Further information from him. He had 6 months to provide this further information and the winter needless to say was pretty harsh. Very few sites would have the same rate of drainage in December as there would in May and its makes sense for someone to give themselves the best chance of passing the percolation

sinnerboy

Deleted User wrote: »

Perhaps in Dublin where there is a bit more infrastructure fair enough but not down here.

It's not always plain sailing here either. A few years ago a client of mine obtained permission for a house-in-large-side-garden site in a 30 year old estate. Plenty of well established public infrastructure. But the existing house was at the start of an existing public drain run. One condition of grant was that my client had to obtain permission from all the co owners. The same 5 owners who objected during the consideration period.

There was nothing to do except request a quote for a slightly awkward route past the private drain into the public drain. Cost from LA €25k. I am not joking.

House was never built.

sinnerboy

sinnerboy wrote: »

It's not always plain sailing here either. A few years ago a client of mine obtained permission for a house-in-large-side-garden site in a 30 year old estate. Plenty of well established public infrastructure. But the existing house was at the start of an existing public drain run. One condition of grant was that my client had to obtain permission from all the co owners. The same 5 owners who objected during the consideration period.

There was nothing to do except request a quote for a slightly awkward route past the private drain into the public drain. Cost from LA €25k. I am not joking.

House was never built.

Thats shocking. disgraceful money. my cousin up in fingal area was asked for roughly the same money afaik.