Planning issues - post them here MOD WARNING post #1

muffler · 15-10-2007 1:13pm

eve23 wrote: »

Hi, I submitted an application to build a house in galway on a site with poor drainage, it failed percolation test which we knew would happen so our surveyor devised a solution to this problem which was a treatment system followed by a big sand polishing filter, basically he says in the report that if this system is adhered to there should be no problem regards pollution. After the 8 weeks since application was in the planners got back to us and said the application will be refused because of the pollution risk despite the treatment system. can they do this? surely the surveyors opinion must count, after all he is qualified in this area and knows what he is talking about? Any thoughts on this?

It appears that you have not yet been officially refused. In all fairness your architect/agent should be giving you an answer to your query as he/she would or at least should be familiar with the workings of the planners in Galway.

I think you should get whoever carried out the site assessment to talk directly to the E.H.O. and if they are happy with the proposal then maybe that particular E.H.O would write or email the planner dealing with your application and confirm this. If all else fails get your local councillor or TD on board - it helps. It shouldnt but it does.

MegaShelley · 19-10-2007 6:43am

Hi,

I have two requests:-

1. Can anyone recommend a GOOD Planning Consultant in Co. Wexford? We need someone who really knows the planning laws.

2. Has anyone any knowledge or experience of replacing a property by taking down and rebuilding one wall at a time? Sounds crazy to me, but it has been suggested that it might be our only option!

Any advise would be great.

Thanks

smashey · 19-10-2007 8:59am

MegaShelley wrote: »

Hi,

I have two requests:-

1. Can anyone recommend a GOOD Planning Consultant in Co. Wexford? We need someone who really knows the planning laws.
Any Architect/Engineer will know the planning process. Ask around the locality starting with neighbours/friends.

2. Has anyone any knowledge or experience of replacing a property by taking down and rebuilding one wall at a time? Sounds crazy to me, but it has been suggested that it might be our only option!
Why is this your only option?

Any advise would be great.

Thanks

Remember, any recommendations are to be by pm.

MegaShelley · 19-10-2007 9:52am

Hi Smashy,

1. Tried an Architect who wasn't local - it didn't work out. Architects etc should know the planning laws, however, I get the impression that some may be more up-to-date than others. We don't know anyone locally who has built anything in over 20 years which is why I used the boards to ask for a recommendation (by PM of course) for a good Planning Consultant In Co Wexford.

2. Decided to go directly to the CoCo and ask some questions about what we could do. We want to replace an existing house (it's on .29 acre with a Septic tank) Was a bit shocked :mad: when informed that we would not get planning permission to do a replacement build as under current regulations the site is considered too small for a Septic Tank (the original house - a holiday home - was built with PP in the early 70's and really needs to be replaced) It was suggested that we should employ a Planning Consultant to advise us on exactly what our options are and that in order to update/refurbish the existing house we could knock down and rebuild one wall at a time. The house would stay the same size and shape, but, would obviously be built to a higher standard with better insulation etc. I can't quite understand

how you would do this so was curious to find out whether anyone has updated an older property using this method or knew of someone who did.
Any advise on this matter would be gratefully received.
Thanks:)

Villain · 19-10-2007 11:03am

Just a quick querstion it may not be possible at all but is there any adjoining land that you could possibly purchase to use as a perculation area?

Slates · 19-10-2007 3:17pm

I attended a preplanning meeting today, very usefull.

MegaShelley · 19-10-2007 4:24pm

irish1 wrote: »

Just a quick querstion it may not be possible at all but is there any adjoining land that you could possibly purchase to use as a perculation area?

Hi Irish1,

Yes, there is a field beside our plot (approx .25 acre) However, we're:-

1. Not sure the farmer would even entertain the idea of selling it to us.
2. Not overly keen on paying a Kings ransom for the land either.:eek: and
3. Not really interested in acquiring more land to look after. We find cutting the grass and generally taking care of the .29 acre we already have is more than enough!

Once we've seen a Planning Consultant and find out what they have to say; it might be something we have to investigate.

Villain · 19-10-2007 5:07pm

Well if its that size it won't be worth much to a farmer, obviously you don't want to tell him that you need it or you won't get planning but you could ask how much he wants for it, you might be surprised and if he is only using it for silage or hay you could agree to let him use it once you have installed the perculation area.

sculptor · 26-10-2007 6:48pm

I'm new so I'm not sure if I@m posting in the right place.
We live in a Victorian terraced house with no preservation order on it and we had an pre 63 second storey extension at the end of our annex above the origional single storey pantry. It's poorily built and was coming away from the main building. The adjoining neighbours pantry is so bad they are demolishing it, they had no second storey.
We were selling half of the back garden with planning permision for a mews to finance the extensive work the house needs. So it was chicken and egg situation, we didnt have the money to fix the house till we sold the site and when we sold the site we would not have access.
I decided to demolish and remove as much rubble as possible after we had sale agreed and before we signed contracts. I did it myself after getting a quoate for 36K.
Do we need planing permission to replace what was removed?
None of the neighbours have a problem with what were doing.

dcom · 01-12-2007 5:09pm

Hi,

We are thinking about changing a couple of small things on our one off house in Co Kildare for which we already got planning permission. Changing from a hipped roof to a gable roof is the biggest change the others are very small changes to the window design and we added a couple more velux windows.

I originally posted asking for advice and Muffler suggested that we apply for a minor amendment and having spoken with the council we have to submit a whole new application inorder to make the changes.

Does all building work have to stop while we make the application for the amendments?????

sydthebeat · 01-12-2007 5:17pm

DCOM, it really depends on how the notice is worded... for example if you just applied for change of roof design from hipped to gabled.. im sure you can continue up to wall plate level.....

it depends how much impact these other 'minor' ammendments are going to have.. i cant comment because i dont know what they are.....

If it is simple a case of windows become larger or smaller... once they dont contradict whats required in the county development plan, i cant see why your certifier would have an issue.....
if you are adding extra windows its a different story.....

just remember that, with any change (no matter how minor) the council will ask you to go back for permission... theres no breaking point with them....but your certifier may have a different opinion... and once hes satisfied that the alterations are minor enough not to require planning, then fire ahead.... at the end of teh day, he/she will furnish an 'opinion of substantial compliancfe'... theres a lot of grey area there.......

01-12-2007 5:17pm

dcom wrote: »

Hi,

Does all building work have to stop while we make the application for the amendments?????

I would imagine that only work that is relevent to the changes would have to stop, work on items that are unaffected could probably go ahead.

01-12-2007 5:22pm

A quich query,

A colleague of mine has a dream of siting a mobile home in a remote part of the country, in a forrested part of Leitrum.

He intends to use it as a holiday home, what are his chances of being granted permission?
One of his (future) neighbours appears to have just sited a mobile home on his site without consulting the council.

smashey · 01-12-2007 5:36pm

Solomon Inexpensive Tightrope wrote: »

A quich query,

A colleague of mine has a dream of siting a mobile home in a remote part of the country, in a forrested part of Leitrum.

He intends to use it as a holiday home, what are his chances of being granted permission?
One of his (future) neighbours appears to have just sited a mobile home on his site without consulting the council.

Planning permission is required for mobile homes. I would suggest your colleague arranges a meeting with the local planner.

smashey · 01-12-2007 5:38pm

dcom wrote: »

Hi,

We are thinking about changing a couple of small things on our one off house in Co Kildare for which we already got planning permission. Changing from a hipped roof to a gable roof is the biggest change the others are very small changes to the window design and we added a couple more velux windows.

I originally posted asking for advice and Muffler suggested that we apply for a minor amendment and having spoken with the council we have to submit a whole new application inorder to make the changes.

Does all building work have to stop while we make the application for the amendments?????

It appears that the council don't consider the changes to be "minor" and therefore you'll have to take their advice and re-apply for your new design in lieu of what was previously granted. Your architect should be able to sort this.

01-12-2007 5:53pm

smashey wrote: »

Planning permission is required for mobile homes. I would suggest your colleague arranges a meeting with the local planner.

Thanks, that's what I suspected. I'd already suggested he speaks to the planners and arrange a pre-planning meating.

Just wanted to double check.

btw he was hoping to sneak one on to the site and hope no one would notice, I talked him out of that.:rolleyes:

itsmine · 01-12-2007 7:43pm

brettman wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I'm in a situation where (being new to Ireland) I listened to some builders tell me that I didn't need planning permission to do a small bay window with a canopy. We built it, and now find out that in fact we did need planning permission because we changed the facade of the house.
<snip>

We are facing a similar situation.
Can anyone advise the grounds for granting or refusing of retention permission? Is there a list or guidelines which are referenced when making a retention decision by the planners? (Specific to retention I mean - that are different to the Development Plan and the advice given in the 'Doing Work Around the House Planning Issues' leaflet?)

gas_ticket · 03-12-2007 6:19pm

Hi,

Even though you need to apply for planning for a mobile home you INTEND to put on a site, is it not true that if a mobile home has already been in place for more than a certain number of years (9?) that the local authority can not force its removal, and that no further planning application has to be made?

Please don't tell me I'm wrong!

Garroldy · 05-12-2007 3:06pm

itsmine wrote: »

We are facing a similar situation.
Can anyone advise the grounds for granting or refusing of retention permission? Is there a list or guidelines which are referenced when making a retention decision by the planners? (Specific to retention I mean - that are different to the Development Plan and the advice given in the 'Doing Work Around the House Planning Issues' leaflet?)

A retention application is viewed in the same manner as a new application, so all the criteria are the same. The system is not a punitive one and does not punish you for doing things backwards. However you will be charged €102 to make the application rather than the usual €34.

muffler · 05-12-2007 3:14pm

gas_ticket wrote: »

Hi,

Even though you need to apply for planning for a mobile home you INTEND to put on a site, is it not true that if a mobile home has already been in place for more than a certain number of years (9?) that the local authority can not force its removal, and that no further planning application has to be made?

Please don't tell me I'm wrong!

That is correct to a point. What it all means is that there is a statutory bar placed on the local authority which prevents them from taking any form of legal redress under the Planning & Development Acts. However the development (in this case a mobile home) is still unauthorised and could become an issue if a mortgage/certs of compliance come into play.

There are of course other grounds (apart from planning) on which a local authority could order the removal of the mobile home which Im not going to go into here.

LeperKing · 26-12-2007 7:00pm

Hi,

I bought a house that had planning permission approved for an extension. The original owner didn't get everything he wanted in the application, so he didn't go through with extension.

This is going back to 2003, am I able to use this PP to bulild the extension? I presume the drawings would be in the public domain?

Thanks,
LK.

smashey · 27-12-2007 1:49pm

Just bear in mind that planning permission is valid for a period of 5 years so you haven't much time left. You can of course build what was granted.

peepingtom · 09-01-2008 7:52pm

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone would have an idea about the following.....myself and my fiance own a house in North Co. Dublin but it is our dream to build our own home. As land is way too expensive in Dublin we are looking to the surroundings counties like Meath and Kildare. As it's nearly impossible to get planning permission if you're not a local my question is would we be considered planning permission to restore a ruined/derelict house in these areas?

Any advice would be great.....thanks.

cue · 09-01-2008 8:49pm

Refused again. Second time. Waiting for planners report but the architect says it is local needs again. They asked for further information, which I added (letter from priest, from school, from GAA, from swimming club, from library, more bank details etc). The architect thinks it is because I am applying to build in a rural area and I live in an urban area. What next?

DBIreland · 09-01-2008 9:19pm

Applied for permission on the 20th December. Heard nothing from the Council by the 3rd of Jan and could not see any details of application on-line so the wife rang them. The LOST the planning application! I had handed it to them over the counter and somewhere between me handing it to them and them scanning it the managed to lose it!! Wife roared down the phone at them and a few hours later they found it but they immediately went on the offensive by pointing out one or two things that had been missing (North had not been marked on one drawing and copies of site location map had been used). They said they would post out the application again so we could make the changes. But one week later and it has still not arrived, the wife is going to have another cut off them tomorrow.

Does my 8 week period still stand from the 20th December or from the date they receive the updated details?

sydthebeat · 09-01-2008 10:38pm

DBIreland wrote: »

Applied for permission on the 20th December. Heard nothing from the Council by the 3rd of Jan and could not see any details of application on-line so the wife rang them. The LOST the planning application! I had handed it to them over the counter and somewhere between me handing it to them and them scanning it the managed to lose it!! Wife roared down the phone at them and a few hours later they found it but they immediately went on the offensive by pointing out one or two things that had been missing (North had not been marked on one drawing and copies of site location map had been used). They said they would post out the application again so we could make the changes. But one week later and it has still not arrived, the wife is going to have another cut off them tomorrow.

Does my 8 week period still stand from the 20th December or from the date they receive the updated details?

I can only assume they are invalidating the first application, which means that you need to get the details correct and resubmit a new application. The 8 week period will then begin on the date of submitting this new application. It must be understood that there is no legal time limit in which the councils must validate an application (other than within the first 5 weeks)... ive had cases of applications being invalidated after this length of time.. frustrating is not even close to describing the feeling!!...

This is the current climate under which all agents must work.... that why its imperitive that everything is correct at the beginning....

sydthebeat · 09-01-2008 10:40pm

cue wrote: »

Refused again. Second time. Waiting for planners report but the architect says it is local needs again. They asked for further information, which I added (letter from priest, from school, from GAA, from swimming club, from library, more bank details etc). The architect thinks it is because I am applying to build in a rural area and I live in an urban area. What next?

Are you able to describe a long standing affiliation to the area you wish to live in?? Do you have family in the immediate area??? the rural guidelines are quite specific on to whom a positive presumption will be made.

sydthebeat · 09-01-2008 10:42pm

peepingtom wrote: »

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone would have an idea about the following.....myself and my fiance own a house in North Co. Dublin but it is our dream to build our own home. As land is way too expensive in Dublin we are looking to the surroundings counties like Meath and Kildare. As it's nearly impossible to get planning permission if you're not a local my question is would we be considered planning permission to restore a ruined/derelict house in these areas?

Any advice would be great.....thanks.

most counties have specific requirements for restorations of derelict dwellings, or replacement of derelict dwellings in their county development plan. Refer to these.

cue · 09-01-2008 11:11pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

Are you able to describe a long standing affiliation to the area you wish to live in?? Do you have family in the immediate area??? the rural guidelines are quite specific on to whom a positive presumption will be made.

Yes! Yes! Born 1 mile from farm in 1969. Lived on farm til 1987 and went to UK. Returned 1993 and lived in town where I was born, schooled, played football etc etc etc until now. All family live on farm. Uncles next door. Grandparents door after that.4 generations now on the land. Surrounded by countless cousins. Supporting documentation to prove all but they still refuse and can get no clear answer off architects, councillors etc apart from " you live in the town now". House plans thay are happy with. Just local needs!!!

sydthebeat · 09-01-2008 11:47pm

cue wrote: »

Yes! Yes! Born 1 mile from farm in 1969. Lived on farm til 1987 and went to UK. Returned 1993 and lived in town where I was born, schooled, played football etc etc etc until now. All family live on farm. Uncles next door. Grandparents door after that.4 generations now on the land. Surrounded by countless cousins. Supporting documentation to prove all but they still refuse and can get no clear answer off architects, councillors etc apart from " you live in the town now". House plans thay are happy with. Just local needs!!!

sounds like you need to take it to the Bord, if local needs is the only reason for refusal....

its not on a strategic road, or in a Special Area of Conservation is it....

The rural housing guidelines also make specific mention of returning imigrants.... you are getting a raw deal. from what you have posted

Planning issues - post them here MOD WARNING post #1

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