MAKING YOUR PLANNING APPLICATION

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MAKING YOUR PLANNING APPLICATION

• Seán Kavanagh
• Senior Staff Officer
• Planning Section
• Wexford County Council

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EXPLAIN

• VALID PLANNING APPLICATION
• PLANNING APPLICATION PROCESS

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PRE PLANNING

• Contact the Planning Department beforehand.
• Use our Self Service Pre Planning System.
• Arrange a Pre-Planning meeting with the relevant
  planner.
• Visit www.wexford.ie

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WHAT TYPE OF APPLICATION WILL YOU BE MAKING?

• OUTLINE PERMISSION
• RETENTION PERMISSION
• FULL PERMISSION
• PERMISSION CONSEQUENT

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Agent / Architect

• DO I NEED AN AGENT/ARCHITECT TO PREPARE MY
  APPLICATION?
• This is your call.
• You can employ an agent to submit your
  application or
• You can get an architect to prepare your plans
  and put the application together yourself.

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SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION

• Each planning authority in the country is
  governed by planning legislation which dictates
  what form all planning applications must take.
• YOUR APPLICATION MUST INCLUDE YOUR FEE (65 euro
  for a single dwelling) and 6 copies of each of
  the following
• Application form
• Newspaper Notice
• Site Notice
• Site Location Maps x2 x 6 originals
• Site Layout Map
• Structural Drawings (i.e. your house plans)
• Schedule of Drawings
• Site Suitability Test where necessary (This
  assessment must be carried out by a Suitably
  Qualified Agent registered with Wexford County
  Council )

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PUBLISHING YOUR INTENT TO APPLY FOR PLANNING
PERMISSION

• The planning process is a very public one.
• All planning applications are available for
  viewing by the public (public counter and now on
  the Internet).
• You must advertise your intention to apply for
  planning permission.
• This is done via two methods the site notice
  and the newspaper notice.

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NEWSPAPER NOTICE

• You must publish your intention to apply for
  permission no more than 2 weeks prior to
  submission of your application.
• The format of the newspaper notice is rigid and
  is dictated by legislation.
• The notice must be in an approved newspaper. If
  not then your application will be invalidated.
• A list of approved newspapers is available.

SITE NOTICE

• You must erect a site notice on site and your
  planning application must be submitted within 2
  weeks of the date of the notice.
• Again the format and colour of your site notice
  is rigid and is dictated by legislation and can
  be downloaded from www.wexford.ie .Its content
  is similar to that of the newspaper notice. You
  can also collect a copy from our offices.

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SITE NOTICE contd./

• The Site Notice
• Must be erected in a conspicuous position on or
  near the entrance to the site from the public
  road.
• If there is more than one entrance then extra
  site notices must be erected.
• The site notice must be of durable material
  printed with indelible ink. It must be on a white
  background.
• There is an exception to the white background
  rule if a valid application has been made on
  the same site within the past 6 months the notice
  must be yellow.
• The site notice must be maintained on site for
  five weeks after your application is submitted.
  If the notice is not visible (or not placed
  correctly) when the Planning official visits your
  site during that five week period then your
  application will be declared invalid.

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APPLICATION FORM

• You can download the application form from
  www.wexford.ie or collect it from our offices.
  The form is almost completely generic across the
  country. Complete the form fully and honestly.
  Dont forget to sign it. An unsigned or undated
  application form leads to an invalid application.

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SITE LOCATION MAPS

• You can purchase the maps you require for your
  planning application direct from the Ordnance
  Survey or one of their agents. OSI sells actual
  planning packs. Alternatively if you have an
  agent he/she will generally supply the maps for
  you.
• National Planning Legislation requires two
  different scaled site location maps - 12500 and
  110560.
• The maps must be marked as required under the
  Regulations
• 12500 Map must show
• Site outlined in RED
• North Point, Scale, Map No.
• Other land in the ownership of the applicant
  should be clearly outlined in blue, wayleaves
  (rights of way) should be outlined in yellow
• Name and address of person who prepared map
• Ordnance Survey Licence
• 110560 Map - site clearly indicated
• North Point, Scale, Map No.
• Name and Address of person who prepared map
• Ordnance Survey Licence

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YOUR SITE LAYOUT PLAN

• Site layout should be drawn to a scale of not
  less than 1500 and must show certain features as
  required by legislation for example the
• Relevant Site clearly outlined in RED
• Distance of proposed structure from boundaries
• Position of Site Notice affixed to land/structure
• Name and Address of person who prepared drawing,
  Scale of Drawing, in appropriate Title Block
• These are examples of the details required under
  the relevant legislation and all the detail
  required is explained on www.wexford.ie .

Your House Plans

• Your House Plans must be drawn to a scale of not
  less than 1200 and they must show certain
  features as required under legislation including
  
• Overall dimensions, including height, shown
  clearly on all Floor Plans/Elevations/Sections of
  proposed structure
• Scale indicated on all drawings
• Name and address of person who prepared drawings
  must be indicated.
• More detailed requirements are listed on
  www.wexford.ie

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SITE SUTABILITY TEST

• If your site is located in an area which is not
  connected to the mains sewerage you will need to
  employ an agent to carry out a site suitability
  test . Six copies of the agents report must be
  included with your application. The agent you
  employ must be from the Councils approved
  registered agent list this list is available on
  www.wexford.ie and also in the Councils pre
  planning pack.

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VALIDATING THE APPLICATIONGET IT RIGHT FIRST TIME

• Applications are generally submitted in person
  but can be posted to the planning department.
  Your application will be examined by the
  Validation Office of Wexford County Councils
  Planning Department. The Validation team carries
  out a validation process according to the
  requirements laid out in the Planning and
  Development Regulations 2001 -2006.

• If your application is deemed valid then it is
  referred to the planner and he/she starts the
  assessment of it. If it is deemed invalid then it
  is returned to you and you have to go through the
  hassle of resubmitting it and probably erecting a
  new site notice/placing a new advert and delays
  in the process headache! It is therefore best
  to make sure you have got it right first time.

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VALIDATION PITFALLS

• There are many reasons an application can be
  deemed invalid and some recur much more often
  than others. Here are the top 6
• Permission Type not ticked on Application
  Form/Site Notice
• Application Form not signed or dated
• Spelling of forename/surname different on
  Application Form/Newspaper Notice/Site Notice
• Proposal not corresponding on Application
  Form/Site Notice/Newspaper Notice
• Townsland and Electoral Districts incorrectly
  stated
• Site Notice/Newspaper Notice expired
• Site Notice not on site, not visable or not
  readable.
• There are several other common reasons that
  applications make themselves invalid and a list
  of these will be made available on the website
  along with this presentation.

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USE US!

• If you are unsure about any aspect of your
  application then ring or email us before you
  submit. We are here to help and if our Customer
  Service Unit cant answer your question straight
  away then someone will get back to you.
• Theres advice on our website www.wexford.ie too.
  These slides will be made available on the site
  along with the other presentations and we have
  planning info and tools up there for you to get
  benefit from.

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Planning Application Process

• The planning process is a very public one.
• All planning applications are available for
  viewing by the public (public counter and now on
  the Internet).
• Decision must be made within an 8 Week period but
  after 5 weeks have passed
• 5 weeks site notice displayed
• 5 weeks to receive 3rd party submissions
• Extension of decision time can be sought
• Further information can be sought
• 6 months to reply and includes bank holidays and
  weekends
• Returned if deemed incomplete
• 4 weeks from receipt to make decision
• 2 weeks from receipt to receive 3rd party
  submissions

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Planning Application Process continued

• Relevant Planner makes a recommendation on your
  application based on the Wexford County
  Development Plan, Local Area Plans and site
  inspections
• The Final Decision is made on signature of
  Director of Services (or delegate)
• Decisions to GRANT will contain Conditions which
  are enforceable and must be complied with
• Decisions to REFUSE will include the Reasons for
  Refusals and a copy of the relevant Planners
  Report
• Decision can be appealed to An Bord Pleanála
  within 4 weeks either by the applicant or anyone
  who has sent in 3rd party submissions.
• Final Grant will issue (if no appeal) after 4
  weeks
• Building Commencement Notice must be provided

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BEST OF LUCK FROM WEXFORD COUNTY COUNCIL PLANNING
SECTION

• Seán Kavanagh