Putting in a gate may be seen legally as you asserting you have a right to enter onto the land.
Allowing other people to enter onto your land can be quite onerous; -
- They may seek adverse possession in certain cases which can lead to huge legal bills for the landowner through no fault of his own.
- They may be nuisances, disturbing animals, dumping rubbish and if they hurt themselves, the landowner may be liable for their injury.
- They may assert a public right of way over the land, which has huge security implications and which may affect the value of the land.
I think all of the above have occurred in various cases in Ireland over the years.
Because of these possibilities, landowners tend to resist people accessing their land and walking over it.
If this is private property, not land in the public domain, the landowner may contact you if he discovers the gate, stating that you have no right of access and asking you to remove the gate and brick up the wall.
At the very least I think you will need legal permission from the landowner and if you're fortunate enough to get it you should try to tie this down in a written agreement to avoid later disputes with any successor in title.
The gate itself may not need planning permission:
From:
S.I. No. 600 of 2001.
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS, 2001
SCHEDULE 2
Article 6
PART 1
Exempted Development — General
"
CLASS 5 "The construction, erection or alteration, within or bounding the curtilage of a house, of a gate, gateway, railing or wooden fence or a wall of brick, stone, blocks with decorative finish, other concrete blocks or mass concrete."
"Conditions and Limitations.
"1. The height of any such structure shall not exceed 2 metres or, in the case of a wall or fence within or bounding any garden or other space in front of a house, 1.2 metres.
2. Every wall other than a dry or natural stone wall bounding any garden or other space shall be capped and the face of any wall of concrete or concrete block (other than blocks with decorative finish) which will be visible from any road, path or public area, including public open space, shall be rendered or plastered.
3. No such structure shall be a metal palisade or other security fence."
My
bold for clarity.
My advice is to discuss this with your local council planning officer and the landowner and take legal advice in relation to any disputes or agreements that may follow.
HTH
onq