Planning Permission Refused for Overseas Application

stickman1019

Hi Guys,

As the title suggests I have recently had a planning application refused by Cork County Council.
I have been living oversees for the last 5 years or so and I am very keen on returning to Ireland.

A little background my situation my father own's the land (since the 70's) on which I applied for planning; I also have a lot of close family living in the area. I grew up around 10k from the site.

There were two main reasons for refusal were:
1) Not living in the local area for 7 years 
2) Not having a genuine housing need as I do not live in the country.

I could pack my stuff up in the morning and return to Ireland this will strengthen my argument for reason 2

Realistically even if I was at home for the last 7 years I would not of been able to live in the area; i.e. its not the kind of place you can rent a house etc.

Has anyone who has had this sort of feedback from the planning authorities and managed to get a positive outcome??

Any help is greatly appreciated Thanks in advance.

sydthebeat

you must prove that you lived in the local area for a minimum of 7 years.... this doesnt have to be the last 7 years.
so you must have proof of this. usually letters from local primary schools, parish priests etc your birth cert might have your home address on it.

once you can anchor yourself to the local rural area, then you can establish your housing need by proving that youve never been granted a house in a rural area previously.
cork have a policy specifically to deal with immigrants (assuming your in zone Rural Area under Strong Urban Influence
and Town Greenbelts (GB 1-1))

Returning emigrants who spent a substantial period of
their lives (i.e. over seven years), living in the local rural
area in which they propose to build a first home for
their permanent occupation, who now wish to return
to reside near other immediate family members
(mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter or
guardian), to care for elderly immediate family
members, to work locally, or to retire

Metric Tensor

The specific benefit that's afforded is to "returning emigrants" - so unless you have a clear direction for your return you won't get any benefit from it.

Do you have a job offer at home? Is it near / in the area in which you are applying for planning permission? If you don't have that then number 2 of your post does not apply to you.

stickman1019

Thanks for the replies guys
Firstly sydthebeat correct I am in the GB 1-1
I grew in a town in Cork where the proposed site is 10km away i.e. a different parish / village. Hence I went to school in the town played sports with the local teams in the town everything I have that is documented will be associated with the town and not the area where the site is.
My parents farmed the land which was 10 km so every day afterschool and on weekends etc. I was on the land farming.
Below is an extract from the planners report.
 
“It is stated in the submitted information that the applicant has ties to the local area as his farther owns the land on which he now intends to build. The applicant has also outlined family links to the rural area with his mother and uncles coming from the local area.  It is stated that the applicants farther first purchased land here in the 1970’s.  
 
While the applicants family ties are noted there is no direct link between the applicant and this rural area, the applicant has never resided here and therefore I do not consider that he complies with the requirements of policy objective RCI 4-2.  In addition, the applicant is still currently overseas and no details are provided as to a job being secured upon his return.  Therefore, the need issue has also not been satisfactorily addressed.”
  
Metric Tensor I did attach a letter from a previous employer on official company letterhead which stated that I will have a job upon my return (which appears to have been completely overlooked).
But as there was not a specified date on this then I guess its not clear direction.

Do you think an actual contract of employment is required?

Metric Tensor

It does sound a bit like the planner didn't read the letter from the employer at all but it's difficult to tell.

Is the employer located in the area in which you are applying for planning permission? If the employer is 20-30km away necessitating a commute then the letter is useless.

However, employer or not, the planner has determined that you don't have satisfactory links to the area. Does your father own land in the village where you grew up. That would be the direction you should go.

stickman1019

Yes I will be bringing this up with the planner maybe he has overlooked but can't approach him for four weeks.

My father owns the site / farm no other properties or businesses in the area.

I thought that my dad owns the land would of been enough to get me over the line

dellas1979

Just to add OP. When you apply for planning, you named a local councillor, right?

I had some "request for further information" issues, and it is here I got the local councillor to step in and talk to the council/planner. And we sorted them out.

Yes, you cannot approach them directly, but a councillor can on your behalf.

Take the "no" as a maybe for right now.

Its taken me nearly 2 months to get the information sorted/that they were looking for, and resubmitted last week. So, does take time, but not insurmountable.

PS: I assume its further information they requested, and not a flat out refusal? As per above, now is your time to get your ducks in a row. Get onto your local/nominated councillor.

stickman1019

Yes it was a flat-out refusal

In the application I did not name a local councillor the engineer did not request that I do so at the time.

Approaching the councillor is the next stage for me to see if there is any leeway with the planner

dellas1979

stickman1019 wrote: »

Yes it was a flat-out refusal

In the application I did not name a local councillor the engineer did not request that I do so at the time.

Approaching the councillor is the next stage for me to see if there is any leeway with the planner

Oh gosh-yes absolutely. First port of call.

Lookit, its a lesson learned in a lot of respects. When someone is submitting something for you, make sure you read first. I learned this myself with engineer for percolation (he didnt sign the report! Thankfully was caught before was sent in).

You need to nominate a councillor, and one that will argue your case for you.

And you need to make clear to the councillor, that if you apply again, and there are more problems, that they need to request a further information (FOI) instead of a flat out refusal.

Councillors do really have a lot of pull in these situations.

stickman1019

Thanks Dellas1979 I will take that onboard much appreciated!

dellas1979

NPs.

I got caught out for sight lines. Which the council can refuse flat out for. Instead, I had a councillor go in there, and insist that they request "further information" than flat out refuse me.

I also had to......change councillors, as the first one was really nice, but had no gump to in and argue my case...so per above, my advice is to find a councillor that will do that for you.