Planning permission for driveway

chavro

Hi there,

Just looking for some opinions & experiences re converting a front garden in Dublin 3 into a driveway.

Basically, I’m not sure if we should go to the expense of applying for planning permission from Dublin City Council. As far as I can make out from reading their website & emailing them a few queries, we DO need permission. I can’t quite figure out if the permission is just for dishing the kerb, which would be carried out by road maintenance, or if permission is also required to knock our front wall & alter our garden? But seeking permission entails employing an architect to draw up the site plans. I haven’t spoken to an architect for a quote, but I can imagine they wouldn’t come cheap.
I don’t really understand why a lay person (i.e me!) can’t supply a basic, measured, scaled drawing of the front garden & footpath etc, to indicate where we want to knock the front wall & dish the kerb. Is an architect strictly necessary?

I wouldn’t normally agree with doing any kind of work on a house without the necessary pp, but in this case it seems like unjustified bureaucracy & red tape....

I understand that part of the reason for requiring permission is to do with vehicular movement onto a public footpath & road, but even so, the requirement to employ an architect seems excessive.

Any experiences of this process would be welcomed, thanks.

Gumbo

chavro wrote: »

Hi there,

Just looking for some opinions & experiences re converting a front garden in Dublin 3 into a driveway.

No problem, I've lodged pretty much 100's of these over the years, so the below are my thoughts.

chavro wrote: »

As far as I can make out from reading their website & emailing them a few queries, we DO need permission.

Correct.

chavro wrote: »

I can’t quite figure out if the permission is just for dishing the kerb, which would be carried out by road maintenance, or if permission is also required to knock our front wall & alter our garden?

Planning Permission is lodged to alter the existing boundary wall in order to create a new Vehicular Entrance.

The dishing is a separate process that's applied for after planning is granted. You must provide a copy of the Granted planning to Roads Maintenance at that time.

chavro wrote: »

But seeking permission entails employing an architect to draw up the site plans. I haven’t spoken to an architect for a quote, but I can imagine they wouldn’t come cheap.

An architect, Engineer, Surveyor or Technician can do it. Most big Architects wont get involved as the time involved relative to the fees they can charge is not worth it. Every time I get a call its the same, I cant get anyone to do it and i got your name from X.

Price can depend on location and who is doing it for you and the timeframes involved. You might get lucky and someone with a week free can slot your job in between other jobs etc

chavro wrote: »

I don’t really understand why a lay person (i.e me!) can’t supply a basic, measured, scaled drawing of the front garden & footpath etc, to indicate where we want to knock the front wall & dish the kerb. Is an architect strictly necessary?

You can. There is nothing stopping you.
Once you can create the drawings to the required standards, scales and repetition to scale, you can lodge it yourself no problem.

The forms, maps and newspapers all have to be pin point accurate as its a Statutory Process you are engaging in so it must be correct.

chavro wrote: »

I wouldn’t normally agree with doing any kind of work on a house without the necessary pp, but in this case it seems like unjustified bureaucracy & red tape....

I understand that part of the reason for requiring permission is to do with vehicular movement onto a public footpath & road, but even so, the requirement to employ an architect seems excessive.

Its required by law and in order for the Councils to monitor and keep track of development within their boundaries and in order to keep some form of orderly development standard. For example, we would know the exact limit that DCC will allow a vehicular entrance to be.

chavro wrote: »

Any experiences of this process would be welcomed, thanks.

Any specific questions, fire away.

chavro

Thanks for all the info.

user52questionnaire

Hi gumbo,

you seem to have a lot of knowledge on this so a couple of questions.

1. I’ve lived in my council house for a long time and want a drive in, do I still have to go through the long planning permission route ?
2. Im going to build the drive in myself and there’s no wall in my front garden so do I still need pp for this ? I’m aware I need permission for the dishing of the kerb
3. Lastly where do i start with pp? I’ve been onto the council many times and have been passed around to a number of departments. They seem to have no idea where I can get the letter that states I have permission to alter the property from. Any idea on how to obtain this letter?

user52questionnaire

Hi gumbo, 

you seem to have a lot of knowledge on this so a couple of questions. 

1. I’ve lived in my council house for a long time and want a drive in, do I still have to go through the long planning permission route ?
2. Im going to build the drive in myself and there’s no wall in my front garden so do I still need pp for this ? I’m aware I need permission for the dishing of the kerb
3. Lastly where do i start with pp? I’ve been onto the council many times and have been passed around to a number of departments. They seem to have no idea where I can get the letter that states I have permission to alter the property from. Any idea on how to obtain this letter?

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120779756#Comment_120779756

1. yes. Standard process.
2. Send me pics if you can. You. Red planning to create a vehicular entrance. You don’t need planning to dish the path as that’s not your land. You get permission to create the entrance and the council then dip the path (DCC).
3. local area office.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120779756#Comment_120779756

İs the house owned by the local authority?