Estate Agents Bantry – Planning Procedures
As any estate agent based in Bantry, anywhere in West Cork or indeed, in the whole county of Cork will tell you, there has been a fundamental shift in the overall planning strategy that has permeated to every part of the country.
This change has been apparent in particular over the last 4 years or so. Before this time, if a person had land, then all he/ she had to do (9 times out of 10) was to obtain planning permission and then turn around and put it on the market. This is quite simply (except in the event of truly rare and exceptional circumstances) not possible any more.
Full planning permission for a single dwelling in the countryside is difficult to obtain nowadays. And, if you do get it, then the permission is applicable to you and only you or a close relative are allowed to build on it.
Irregardless of nationality, the first criterium seems to be based on an absolute and clear-cut housing need. Once that has been established, the application is then up against the general obstacle of the perceived policy of restricting one-off housing in the countryside to the bare minimum. While the generally accepted view is that locals are treated with a slightly favourable slant, this is not always the case in practice. In the past few months, we have had a case at Harrington Estates Estate Agents where a local couple were turned down first time, even though they fitted a profile that should have had little difficulty in getting planning permission in the chosen area – i.e. they were young, they were living in the area since birth, they had a young family on the way and the site they chose was discreetly placed and in an area where there were other individual dwellings close by.
From the point of view of attempting to achieve planning permission, there are further obstacles even after Cork County Council has granted it. Bodies such as An Taisce are vital to the protection of the heritage of the Republic and, as such, offer a very important service and to the people. But, occasionally, safeguards such as this are open to abuse. For example, we recently learned of another recently-married couple (he was from the immediate area) who had chosen a discreet site in an area where there were other individual dwellings nearby. They obtained their full planning permission from Cork County Council. Following that, a neighbour who had on numerous occasions previously expressed an interest in the property, appealed the decision through Dublin-based An Bord Pleanala and had the decision overturned. Although this is just one individual story and is not the sort of scenario that develops in the majority of cases, it is not an isolated incident and it serves to underline the difficulty faced by people attempting to get planning permission.
A very good source of information in regard to planning regulations is the Cork County Council planning section. The information is well presented and there is even an interactive map which allows you to zoom in on any area in the county and “see” its planning history.
Harringtons – Estate Agents Bantry – 027 51553
Specialising in West Cork Property in Bantry, Glengarriff, Beara, Sheeps Head and surrounding areas
