Planning Permission Refusal

Folks - I was recently refused planning permission on the basis that 'following local enquiries' I was found to 'have' an address in a town 20 miles away.

First question is that while I did rent in the said town for about 1.5 years up until last September, how would the planning officer could have got hold of this information. What records would they have access to? I never changed my address on the voting registrar or my car tax etc.

My wife is from near the town and rented there for a significantly longer period but the planning applcation was in my name only. Would her records have had a bearing?

I am feeling pretty frustrated about this and will re apply as soon as I can but I wonder what information I need to provide to prove that I do not have and address anywhere else but my home (parents) address where I have mostly lived. Any suggestions welcome.

I would suspect that somebody who wished to object to your planning application contacted the council and informed them that you were living elsewhere. I know of someone whom this happened to.

I would imagine that you could ring the council and find out who informed them of this as the complaint would have to be in writing for them to have taken it on board.

There were no objections registered against the file and the planning officer will not discuss the file until the appeals period has expired. (30 days)

I presume we are talking about an area where you are only allowed to build if you have ties to the area. Personally, I think this scheme is mad, but since it exists, you have to work with what you have.

I don't think that the council have to tell you who complained, but I would certainly insist that you have every right to know exactly what the nature of the allegation against you was, and a chance to rebut the allegations. That is natural justice.

However, from what you are saying, the allegations are true.....

Again, my view is that the whole scheme is possibly unconstitutional and should be scrapped. In the meantime, 99.9% of the population is being prevented from building a home there, including yourself.

If councils want to protect rural areas from over-development they can surely come up with something better than this blunt instrument.

Would you have been registered on the register of electors at the other address?

golden mean said:

I don't think that the council have to tell you who complained, but I would certainly insist that you have every right to know exactly what the nature of the allegation against you was, and a chance to rebut the allegations. That is natural justice.

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I'm in the process of objecting to a planning application and my understanding is that all objections have to be in writing and lodged with a €20 fee to the council. The person seeking the permission then has the right to see the objections and appeal as do the people objecting. Whispers and nods and winks might have an affect at local level but then you can appeal to An Bord Pleanala where you should get a fair hearing. I'm waiting to hear back on my final appeal to An Bord Pleanala so of course I may hate them if it doesn't go my way! Seriously though, they are you only hope of reversing the council's decision. The fee for that appeal is about €150.

I think it is usually a person in authority - a parish priest or local Garda - who writes a letter stating that the address given is correct and confirming that you have lived there.

Are you being rejected for owning property or merely living there?

I suggest you NOT go to An Bord Pleanala. If you are in the right then get your papers is order and resubmit your application. Point out that they were wrong regarding their decision on the first application.
The reason to avoid ABP, would be time considerations - it is far faster to go through the local planner again. (8 weeks v. a couple of months)

I am not going to appeal the councils decision to An Bord Pleanala as a failed appeal at this stage would mean that I could never build on the land.

I will resubmit the application with additional information that will hopefully satisfy them as to my address.

Regarding my local needs, I have lived in the area all my life. The site I am trying to build on is a couple of miles from my homeplace and the land is owned by my family. I am now married with a couple of kids and would like to build on my own land but the reason the council won't let me is because I 'have' an address in a nearby town (which is untrue) and therefore don't meet local needs.

I am 99% sure that my name is not on the said towns electoral registrar. My wifes might but mine shouldn't. If it is on the registrar then it wasn't put there with my consent (which is something that I gather councillers can do)

If you just rented the property then it should have no impact on your application as long as you satisfy the local needs criteria (in Kildare Co. Co that is 12 years! - and it does not have to be the last 12 years ...you can be moving back to the area after an absence).
On KCC application you have to note down the addresses that you lived in for the last 5 years.......so perhaps their issue is that you did not put this rented address down........I would stress the argument that while you did rent for a period of time, your permanent address was always at your parents house which is why you put it down - you could show that you were still registerer there for voting/passport still at that address etc.
If you own the house the situation is different in that you do not have a 'housing need'!

Good Luck............I have recently gotten a further information back saying that I am not from the area in which I seek to build - I am actually from about 2 miles away!! ugh

I. If it is on the registrar then it wasn't put there with my consent (which is something that I gather councillers can do)

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You or some member of your household would have to give your consent for your name to be placed on or removed from the voters' register, otherwise all sorts of abuse could occur at election time.

Nedtastic said:

I am not going to appeal the councils decision to An Bord Pleanala as a failed appeal at this stage would mean that I could never build on the land.

)

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This is not correct, if you are refused you can go thru the whole planning process again.

Sue M:

ABP are generally perceived to be less pro one-off housing than Local Authorities.
A refusal by ABP does have an effect on the future likelihood of planning being granted.

In fact ABP refusals often act to sterilise any site within a mile or so of the site.

So while it is possible to go to ABP in the OP's position, it is not worth it as
a. they are more likely to refuse,
b. if they refuse it will make it next to impossible to obtain permission at that site from the LA at a future date.
c. it will take more time than simply going back to the LA.

In many counties planning can only be got by those people who are originally from that area this is certainly the case in co wicklow and carlow. This is to keep rural development to a minimum.When your wife is from the nearby town and her family still live there you should have no problem," she will be needed to look after her aged relatives"

justsally said:

You or some member of your household would have to give your consent for your name to be placed on or removed from the voters' register, otherwise all sorts of abuse could occur at election time.

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This happened to my whole family when we moved house. We suspect it may have been a local politician in cohoots with the post-master. At the next election there were voting cards for the whole family. Both my Dad and I are known by names different to those on our birth certs (which these guys wouldn't have known) so we got two voting cards in both names. Very suspect....