Impact of planning law on farmers
When people consider planning laws and planning permission, they normally associate it with building residential houses and commercial buildings.
Planning law does not only apply in relation to building houses and building, but also applies to changing land use.
Any material change in the use of land requires planning permission.
The Planning and Development Act 2000 consolidated existing planning law and is the main statute dealing with planning law and development in this country.
It is extremely important to comply with planning permission.
An unauthorised development is essentially the carrying out of unauthorised works, such as the construction, erection, or making of any unauthorised structure.
A typical example would be the construction of a large shed or extension without planning permission.
In the event of erection of an unauthorised building, the planning authority can order the landowner to demolish the building.
Failure to do so can result in the authority serving a notice (under section 46 of the 2000 Act) requiring the landowner to remove or alter the structure, or to discontinue its use.
Non–compliance with this notice can lead to prosecution, which can result in a fine of up to €5,000, imprisonment for up to six months, or both.
For this reason, it is imperative that farmers and landowners know when planning permission is required, as there are several circumstances where it is not.
The 2000 Act provides for exempted developments, that is, developments that are exempt from planning permission.
These provide significant advantages to farmers and landowners.
Exempted development essentially involves minor or immaterial works which do not require planning permission, and are set out in section 4 of the 2000 Act.
Some exempted developments that are relevant for farmers under this provision include:
- The use of land and any building occupied for agriculture;
- The carrying out of any works for maintaining, improving, or altering, any structure which only affects the interior of the structure, or which do not materially affect the external appearance of the structure;
- The thinning, felling, or replanting of trees, forests or woodlands (except for the replacement of broadleaf high forest by conifer);
- The construction, maintenance or improvement of a private road or works ancillary to the development, where the road serves forestry or woodlands;
- The use of any structure or land, enclosed within the land immediately surrounding a house, for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of that house;
- A development consisting of carrying out any of the works referred to in the Land Reclamation Act 1949, such as field drainage, but not including land which has been open to the public within the ten years before the date on which reclamation works started.
The 2000 act also provides for agricultural developments. The use of land for agriculture is exempted but the carrying out of works for those purposes is not.
This position was confirmed in the recent High Court decision of Cunningham v An Bord Pleanála ([2013] IEHC 234).
The case involved a farmer who erected a tractor shed without seeking planning permission.
The court confirmed that the exemption applies only to development in the more limited sense of the term that consists of the use of the structure for agricultural purposes and does not apply to the construction of that structure.
It is important to remember that you generally need planning permission, unless specifically exempted.
Farmers and landowners should seek appropriate advice from engineers or architects, or both, before constructing any building or carrying out any works on their land.
It may be necessary to seek legal advice.
Planning laws have become more stringent in recent years, making it very easy to fall foul of the provisions.
The potential expense involved in defending proceedings brought by a local planning authority, or paying a penalty imposed by the court, and in rectifying the breach of planning permission, could have devastating consequences for farmers.
On a practical level, a farmer should ensure compliance with planning permission to ensure good marketable title of his lands, which is necessary to obtain a mortgage or to sell the lands, which can also have serious consequences.
