Planning requirements for outhouses tightened
Further restrictions on exempted buildings, and increased charges for planning applications, are features of the revised regulations, which took effect from May 2.
For buildings which remain exempted from planning requirements, new conditions include a ban on unpainted metal sheeting for roofing and external cladding.
All applications received by the Department of Agriculture, after April 2, for farm investment aid, must comply with the new regulations. The Farm Waste Management and Dairy Hygiene programmes are included in this requirement.
The exemption limit for most farm structures, whether roofed or not, has been reduced by one third, from 300 square metres to a new maximum of 200 square metres.
This applies, for example, to roofless, self-feed silage areas, structures for the storage of silage, feeding aprons, and assembly yards.
The aggregate of buildings has been reduced by the same scale, from 450 square metres to a new limit of 300 square metres.
Sean O’Regan, Teagasc specialist advisor, said: “This means that, where an individual wants to build a slatted cattle shed with a floor area of 120 square metres, alongside other buildings totalling 220 square metres, planning permission is required, because the total area of sheds will be in excess of 300 square metres”.
Effluent tanks are no longer included in the calculations, which provides for additional storage for effluent without having to apply for planning permission.
All effluent storage facilities must be in line with department requirements.
The exemption limit for dry stores, and barns, and so on, remains unchanged, at 300 square metres, for individual structures, with an aggregate of 900 square metres.
Sean O’Regan said: “A new condition for exempted development status precludes the use of unpainted, metal sheeting for the roofs and external cladding of structures.”
“In future, planning conditions may even specify the precise colour of the roof and side cladding,” he said.
The fee for planning applications has been set at 80, or 1 for each square metre of floor area in excess of 200 square metres, or whichever is greater.
The fee for retention of an unauthorised structure has been doubled, from one-and-a-half times the standard fee to three times the standard fee.
Farmers have been advised that, where work proceeds on the assumption that planning was not required, and it is subsequently established that the development was subject to planning, the grant aid approval may be withdrawn.
If planning approval is subsequently obtained, the recipient will incur a grant penalty of 10%.
