"Local needs" planning permission: another con job?

Dostoevsky

I can agree with a "local only" rule if it protects diversity and something unique- - e.g. the language condition in the fíor-Ghaeltacht (but even that should be changed to grant it to Irish speakers from anywhere, to sustain that linguistic community, rather than to locals) - but it seems to me it's largely being used to give money for nothing to local people, the electors, by county councillors, the elected.

Looking at the number of sites for sale it seems to be a matter of applying for planning permission on the pretence you want to build your own home, get the permission and then sell it on, often making €100k plus in the process (in areas such as Fingal). In many cases people are selling several sites next to each other. This is replicated across Ireland. Yet County Councils insist upon this "Local Needs" regulation despite evidence that it's really local greed that it's advancing.

"Local Needs" regulations in planning permission applications are supposed to be supporting the development of a local community, which in my book is a noble aim. The people who apply for planning permission under this condition and then sell it on to outsiders clearly haven't much interest in the development of a local community. Why doesn't the council grant permission directly to outsiders, rather than let some local profit because of this clause? At the very least, it should impose restrictions on sites which were granted planning permission because of the "local needs" clause being sold on. That's against the spirit of their own policy and naked profiteering by the locals concerned.


Can you see any benefits of the "Local Needs" clauses used by councils across Ireland when granting planning permission?

Drift

Down our end of the country the planning authorities put "Annurement Clauses" on sites like these that tie the house to the applicant for a certain number of years (7 to 10). Stops them from building a house and selling it on at a profit.

You also have to fill in a "housing need" application in some circumstances and if you are granted permission based on that and you sell the house you won't get permission for another one.

SEPT 23 1989

Hello, hello. What's going on? What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here.

kneemos

Does local needs apply to locals only or housing needs locally,if someone buys the house presumably there was a demand for housing.

Drift

It is usually designed to allow development within an area to keep the community alive whilst not allowing rampant urban sprawl commuter belt style development.

The classic example is if a son/daughter wants to take over the family farm. They naturally would want to build a house on the farm but the farm is located in a place where you would have richies from the nearby city wanting to build a McMansion. Grant the son/daughter permission to build but slap an annurement clause on the site so that they can't sell it on.


P.S.: In most cases the application of annurement clauses and the definition of who should be allowed permission is vaguely stated in the county development plan and open to the interpretation of a single planner viewing the application. This is when problems arise. The system is also not the most transparent. For example if the farmer's niece or nephew wanted to take over the farm they may have trouble getting permission.

Robbo

In this thread;

• Rural one off houser dwellers expecting their lifestyle choices to be subsidised
• One genuine farmer who'll make some valid points about the use of land
• Some nonsense about why the property tax is unjust because you decided to live on the side of a mountain in rural Donegal and can't get UPC broadband
• Some town-based armchair town planners who know everything about everything (and have links to prove it all)
• A spurious Cromwell reference
• A false dichotomy where the only alternative to living in a McMansion on 2 acres is living in a dystopian tower block where junkies and rapists roam the halls
• The peasant smallholder attitude to "my land"

goose2005

Robbo wrote: »

In this thread;

• Rural one off houser dwellers expecting their lifestyle choices to be subsidised
• One genuine farmer who'll make some valid points about the use of land
• Some nonsense about why the property tax is unjust because you decided to live on the side of a mountain in rural Donegal and can't get UPC broadband
• Some town-based armchair town planners who know everything about everything (and have links to prove it all)
• A spurious Cromwell reference
• A false dichotomy where the only alternative to living in a McMansion on 2 acres is living in a dystopian tower block where junkies and rapists roam the halls
• The peasant smallholder attitude to "my land"

ah sure ye have the luas and the temple bars and the hooers, why don't we have nottin just cos we live one person per square mile?

Drift

A man named Cromwell bought the field next door to me and applied for planning permission to build a tower block to house miscreants!

goose2005

Drift wrote: »

A man named Cromwell bought the field next door to me and applied for planning permission to build a tower block to house miscreants!

with a windmill on the roof Joe!