Old Septic Tank - what happens when you apply for planning?

tedimc

Hi all,

We've purchased a 70s-ish property which needs some renovation.

Part of the renovation requires new windows (possibly changing shape) and merging a flat roof with 2 hipped roofs (between house and extension).

Heard of a few cases lately where people have applied for planning for alteration of their existing property and have been hit with a condition that they need to upgrade/change their septic tank. One couple can't even get the council to look at their extension plans before they upgrade.

I've no problem with this being better for the environment, etc - but the cost of this work will probably be in excess of what the original work would be.

Has anyone experienced this and is there anyway around this? Or are we better to limit our works to those that don't require planning?

Thanks,
Ted.

BryanF

tedimc wrote: »

Hi all,

We've purchased a 70s-ish property which needs some renovation.

Part of the renovation requires new windows (possibly changing shape) and merging a flat roof with 2 hipped roofs (between house and extension).

1. Heard of a few cases lately where people have applied for planning for alteration of their existing property and have been hit with a condition that they need to upgrade/change their septic tank.
2. One couple can't even get the council to look at their extension plans before they upgrade.
3. I've no problem with this being better for the environment, etc - but the cost of this work will probably be in excess of what the original work would be.
4. Has anyone experienced this
5. and is there anyway around this?
6. Or are we better to limit our works to those that don't require planning?

1. correct, its happening for the last 10 years in co cork
2. seems strange, once an assessment is carried out by an approved engineer, i dont see why this would be, unless there is something else about this case your not telling us?
3. allow 5k contingency - before purchasing you/your eng should have checked this out - all waste treatments systems are be regulated by the council as part of the new EPA regs, this is currently being rolled out across the country. you'd of got 'caught' by this, even if you were not approaching the council to extend your dwelling
4. yes
5. no - (and we don't allow this type of Discussion here)
6. not really, people are expected to upgrade and council are actively checking systems albeit a bit slower in some countys

maybe this will help

tedimc

BryanF wrote: »

[/LIST]

1. correct, its happening for the last 10 years in co cork
2. seems strange, once an assessment is carried out by an approved engineer, i dont see why this would be, unless there is something else about this case your not telling us?
3. allow 5k contingency - before purchasing you/your eng should have checked this out - all waste treatments systems are be regulated by the council as part of the new EPA regs, this is currently being rolled out across the country. you'd of got 'caught' by this, even if you were not approaching the council to extend your dwelling
4. yes
5. no - (and we don't allow this type of Discussion here)
6. not really, people are expected to upgrade and council are actively checking systems albeit a bit slower in some countys

maybe this will help

Thanks BryanF, I didn't know a grant had been announced. Hoepfully the previous owner has registered the septic tank in time.

2. seems strange, once an assessment is carried out by an approved engineer, i dont see why this would be, unless there is something else about this case your not telling us?
- Not that I know of, only got told the story today so will find out more.

4. no - (and we don't allow this type of Discussion here)
I wasn't thinking along the lines of 'turning a green plastic box upside down in the garden and put an amber light on it' kind of thing - I was thinking along the lines of proactively getting the existing tank certified before approaching the council or somehting along those lines.

rayjdav

First thing to ask here is where did you come by this info? Was it from a competent professional or the council themselves or was it from Billy down the Pub? Get the actual facts from source locally before you start worrying about it.

I have never had any need to apply for S.T. upgrades to any extensions unless there was some additional capacity proposed to the existing tank which then, naturally, would require tank works. You must have some ensuite or sink or something going to it?

As said above, the proposed tank inspections should, in theory:rolleyes:, bring all systems to a competent standard in time anyway......

tedimc

rayjdav wrote: »

First thing to ask here is where did you come by this info? Was it from a competent professional or the council themselves or was it from Billy down the Pub?

No, Billy is barred from the pub so haven't been chatting him in ages......... :rolleyes:

One source was an ex-boss of mine who actually had it occur to him when he went for planning for an extension. Granted, he was adding an en-suite in the extension, but these works ended up costing him thousands on top of what was a relatively modest extension. The council (Leitrim CoCo) had no interest in the fact that the number of inhabitants of the house wasn't changing or in the current state/capacity of the existing septic tank infrastructure.

Another source is the wife's friend, but this was with Sligo CoCo. They are getting grief before even getting to talk to the county planner about their proposed extension.
Maybe I am just worrying about it unnecessarily, but I was just wondering if anyone had encountered something similar or if is a new policy for County Councils to make septic tanks all fall in line no matter what the nature of the works to be carried out are.