Your home… with living:room

Most of my advice here on the blog is designed to help homeowners spot and take advantage of the potential in their homes but what if the boot is on the other foot? What if it is a neighbour who is adding space to his home in a way that will impact on yours? What action can you take?

Well, the Irish Planning system gives you two opportunities to lodge an objection to an unsuitable planning application – firstly, through the planning process at your local Planning Department and then, if you feel that your comments have not been given full consideration, through An Bord Pleanala. Here’s how it works:

Objecting to your Local Planning Department

When a planning application is lodged, the applicant must advertise the fact in two ways – an advert in a local or national newspaper and a sign at the front of the property, visible from the public footpath. For the first 5 weeks of the application, the drawings are available to view at the local planning office. Many Planning Departments now have this information online, making the process even easier.  Anyone can take a look at the drawings and submit an Observation about or an Objection to the application – the fee is €25.00 and the objection must be received by the Planning Department within the initial 5 week period.

There is no official format for making an observation or objection – you simply write a letter to your local planning department, quoting the reference number on the planning file and listing the issues you are concerned about.

When weighing up a planning application, the planner considers what a homeowner wants to do to his home in relation to something called ‘residential amenity’ – in simple terms, this means the ability to enjoy living in your home and neighbourhood.

The factors that contribute to ‘residential amenity’ are laid out in the Development Plan (available at your local planning department counter and to view on-line) but here are the basics:

• Height – will it be taller than the existing or surrounding houses?
• Scale / Massing – will it be bigger and bulkier than surrounding houses?
• Visual Appearance – will it be in keeping with the colours & materials of houses in the local area?
• Overlooking – will they be able to look in the windows of your house from the new extension,  especially at the back and at first floor level?
• Overshadowing – will it cast part or all of your home or garden into shade?
• Traffic – will it create a lot of additional traffic particularly on a quiet street?
• Parking – are there existing parking problems that will be made worse?
• Private Garden – will the reduced garden size meet planning standards?

At the end of the 5 week period, the planner reviews the application taking account of all information submitted – the application and observations / objections – and has a further 3 weeks to make a decision, 8 weeks in total from the lodgement date.

At this point, if you feel that the decision did not take full account of the issues raised in your observation or objection, you can appeal to An Bord Pleanala.

Appealing to An Bord Pleanala

The typical planning process takes 8 weeks, as described above, at the end of which the Planning Department will issue either a Notification to Grant Permission or a Refusal – there are other alternatives that could arise at this point and, for more information on these, please take a look at ‘How Long Does Planning Permission Take?‘

If you have already made an observation or objection to the planning application, and you are not happy with the decision, you can submit a Third Party Appeal to An Bord Pleanala. Note: if you have not submitted an observation or an objection to the original application with the Planning Department, you cannot make an Appeal to the Board.

The fee for lodging an appeal is currently €200 (check www.pleanala.ie for up-to-date information) and it must be submitted within 4 weeks of the Planning decision. Typically, it takes 16 weeks for the Bord to reach a decision and uring this time the applicant will be notified, asked to respond to the issues raised in your objection and you will have a further opportunity to address any items raised in their response.

At the end of the 16 weeks, the Board will make its decision and notify all parties. In some cases, where the application in a complicated one, the Board will ask for an extension of the time required to make a decision – although this is rare in the case of typical house extension projects.

Check back soon for advice on the Do’s and Don’ts of Writing a Planning Objection.

Did you find this article useful? Do you have any suggestions for articles? Please leave a comment with your thoughts on this subject or any other home improvement or design issues you’d like to know more about.