Planning Departments

here is the situation so far...

My partner and i bought a house in Dec 2004 and are both currently living there. We would hope to build on some of his parents land. We have recently picked a site that we hope to build on. We got a lady form the planning dept to come out and have a look at the site, explained to her what we were hoping to build and she said don't even bother. said we would not get planning for a two storey house , only a dormer and even then there would be conditions. The area would be very up market and all houses on the road would be very individual looking and there are certainly no dormer houses on the road.
any suggestions on what i should do? should we go ahead with the house that we want to build or just agree with the advice from the planning dept. (planning dept is in the south east)
thanks

Many planning departments are very subject to being swayed by the individual views of the planners. I doubt that the development plan contains a specific ban on two story houses in your area. Rather, it is more likely to be the individual planner's interpretation of the aspirational language in the Plan. Most planning officials don't stay put in one area for more than a year or two -even if staying with the same planning authority, they might be responsible for a different area within the county.

If this lady's views are incompatible with your proposals, if you sense that there is no give in her, and if you are not in a hurry, it might be worth while adopting a "wait and see" attitude for a year or two, as there is a good prospect that she might move on. Alternatively, you could simply put in your plans and see what happens, but a planning refusal tends to follow a site: if she refuses two storeys (and An Bord Pleanala follow suit) the chances of ever getting two stories on a subsequent application are hugely diminished.

Hi Bluebell?

If its South Dublin then I sympathise. It took us a very long time 4+ yrs to get planning on our own land... Things have got easier though!! In the end we are nearly building the house to suit their needs and not ours!!! I would have gone down the brown envelope route myself !! I wanted a dormer but ended up building a bungalow with the hope of adding in some velux windows because they wanted it and we have over 17 conditions down to stone type - trees, shrubs - name of property.. I could go on.............
Where are you planning on building by the way??

South East of the country.

If there are already two storey houses along the road then the precedent has already been set by the local authority to grant two storey houses in the area. This is a very strong argument for any development proposal and if it goes to appeal, An Bord Pleanala generally look favourably on this. It would do no harm to engage a planning consultant to carry out some research on the site and look at the development plan. Many private sector planners do this cheaply (im sure many architecture companys do as well) particurly if its likely you will use their business for the actual application and designs. All planning applications come with conditions and 17 is about average. i have come accross application with up to 40 conditions for single dwellings. It is unlikely that the lady planner who inspected your site would have the final say on your application. She will be asked to make a recommendation and then the final decision will be with a senior planner and they often grant differently to the planner for that specific area.