Back-garden homes overloading appeals board

HOMEOWNERS in some of the country’s most expensive neighbourhoods are contributing to a surge in planning appeals by attempting to build lucrative developments in their back gardens.

But swapping flower beds for money trees by planting profitable second houses and apartment blocks on scarce green spaces is upsetting the neighbours and adding to the workload of the appeals board.

An Bord Pleanála chairman John O’Connor said backyard and side garden developments were a new phenomenon particularly common in exclusive areas such as leafy south Dublin.

“It is just emerging. It’s happening where property values are highest. A high percentage of cases of this type coming in to us would be third party appeals from neighbours and residents associations,” he said.

The numbers run into the hundreds, contributing to a record level of appeals to the Board for the second year running. The total number for this year is expected to exceed 6,000 and has slowed down the determination of cases.

A 27.5% increase in just two years means the Board is relying more on consultant planners to supplement the work of its 45 staff inspectors. External planners were used to assess 35% of all appeals last year and Mr O’Connor said that figure would increase this year.

He said the Board was in negotiations with the Department of the Environment for increased staff and resources but he said no increase in fees was planned for the coming year.

Chief causes of the rise in appeals include the continuing building boom but also a rush by developers to beat tax incentive deadlines for hotels, student accommodation and urban renewal projects which expire in the middle of next year.

The lifting of restrictions on the number of dwellings that can be built per acre has meant an increase in the number of high-density apartment blocks which have proved controversial.

“There are some very well-designed schemes coming into the Board but there is still a lot, and far too much, bad design coming in,” Mr O’Connor said.

He blamed pressure from developers for the slipshod schemes which often involved apartment blocks built without space around them and layouts designed for cars, not pedestrians.

“Sometimes they forget about creating a good living environment,” he said.

The Board yesterday published its report for 2004 which showed inspectors found fault with the sewage and drainage arrangements for many one-off rural housing applications.

It said some local authorities were not requiring applicants to seek soil suitability tests before granting permission for septic tanks and other treatment systems. In other cases, tests were provided by companies selling sewage systems which compromised their objectivity.