Lack of knowledge a stumbling block to securing planning

In a bid to uncover the extent to which planning permission for a home in rural Ireland is secured, Irish Country Living has sought interviews with several local authorities across the country for information on how they determine such matters.

Very few senior management members of local authorities were willing to speak on the matter, despite the deepening housing crisis affecting rural families, particularly those who are being denied permission to build on their own land.

Liam Hanrahan is the director of services for planning and economic development in Galway County Council. He defended the local authority’s record in granting planning applications for rural housing and said the confusion and frustration among the public was down to a lack of knowledge and poor advice being offered to those seeking to build a home.

“People usually come in with an idea of what they want but that is all they have, so we refer them to the County Development Plan which has all the nuances of what will and won’t be granted planning,” he says.

“Development Management Standards are updated with every County Development Plan and these vary county by county. But planning policy is driven by the County Development Plan.

“A lot of people want to build houses on land beside their parents, who would have had no issue getting planning 30 years ago. But the issue is that back then, local authorities had responsibility for the roads, now its Transport Infrastructure Ireland and it’s a different situation.

“Advice from your local authority or a good planning agent is very important and I would say that an applicant has to be confident that their agent has the required skills to deal with every aspect of the process. There is no point submitting a drawing from an architect if it doesn’t come with the necessary information from roads, engineering, landscaping and water and that it doesn’t answer the pertinent questions that will be asked.”

Mr Hanrahan said that despite the current Rural Housing Guidelines dating back to 2005, they still apply in principle when designing a rural home.

Visually overwhelming

“In one sense, the guidelines are dated but design principles have largely remained the same and can be modified,” he reasons.

“In the Celtic Tiger era, people ran amok with extravagant plans, oversized windows and the box effect where people added extensions to traditional farmhouses mixing it up too much with what ended up being visually overwhelming buildings.

“It all comes down to good design, where you have simple, clear lines that is sensitive to local landscape and takes sustainability and climate into account. The best advice to people is to be practical in their plans, no one wants to see a planning application come before them for a 5,000 sq ft house.

“In one sense when you look at the County Development Plan, the development standards and the samples in the guidelines shouldn’t be too much of a hindrance when seeking to build a traditional Irish rural house,” he explains.

“There are a lot of examples that can be used as reference and in terms of the guidelines, the form won’t change a whole pile.

“Recent planning applications is where people should start when looking to apply for planning permission as they’re the best guidance of what will and won’t be granted.”

However, many people who have gone through the planning process will know that it’s not always the most straightforward journey. Delays at this stage can lead to huge costs, either through reports sought as further information or the rising cost of construction, both of which add a hefty price tag to the overall build.

Mr Hanrahan said Galway County Council has a strong record when it comes to determining planning applications.

“By law, planning applications have to be dealt with in four weeks unless further information is requested and usually the majority of cases are determined in this timeframe,” he says.

“Further information usually relates to water connections, survey works, septic tank loads and related issues. Sight lines, how close the site is to a national road and if it is close to a junction or intersection, will involve a submission from TII on the application and we have to take that into account.

“However, we have granted planning permission against TII advice, which in some cases has been appealed to an Bord Pleanála, but local knowledge will play a factor in the balance of probability.

“We have an approval rate of 81% for all planning applications in Galway county but preparation is huge on all applications in this day and age. People need to know what they need to submit for planning and while some paperwork can take time to generate, an application for a water connection to Irish Water doesn’t need an architects’ drawing.

“My advice to people would be to spend between six and 12 months thinking about the building they want to build and know what paperwork is required and have it to hand when making an application.”

Hands are tied

Cllr Michael Hegarty is the chair of Cork County Council’s Planning Strategic Policy Committee (SPC).

The role of the SPC is to assist the local authority in the formulation, development and review of policy. This allows councillors to be fully involved in the policy making process by preparing the groundwork from an early stage before matters are put before the full council membership.

The Fine Gael councillor has represented the people of east Cork for 40 years and says it is definitely getting harder to secure planning permission for a rural home.

“We have a target of 600 rural homes to be built in Co Cork per annum and the figure for 2024 was approximately 570 so we are close to meeting our targets,” he says.

“Farmers’ sons and daughters are definitely finding it difficult to get planning for homes on their land but you are eligible for planning if you’ve met the criteria of living in an area for seven years or more or if it is your first home. Returning emigrants are also eligible as are those who can prove a housing need due to exceptional health circumstances. Those who have set up businesses in rural areas also have to be accommodated when it comes to planning permission.”

Cllr Hegarty says that for all the positive influence councillors try to have on planning, their hands are tied by directives from central government.

“We are obliged to take into consideration the National Planning Framework which has so many pillars that must be adhered to so it is becoming more of a challenge to accommodate the planning applications we receive. And there has been an increase across the board,” he says.

“Our County Development Plan has substantial areas of zoned land but trying to get these lands serviced, with connections to Irish Water is a big problem for us. Certain arms of the State are not working together when it comes to planning and I worry about smaller villages and towns, waiting on services which are going to be a long time coming given the lack of joined up thinking.”

Other factors including environmental concerns are also an issue for those seeking to build a rural home and Cllr Hegarty believes the public have to acknowledge this when making a planning application.

“Lot of areas in rural parts of the county have no public services and certain lands aren’t suitable for the development of housing where proprietary wastewater treatment units, over septic tanks, are required,” he says.