€6,000 later, Patrick is ‘sick to death’ of planning system

A YOUNG Tipperary man has spent nearly €6,000 unsuccessfully trying to get planning permission in the last three years.

Patrick English, aged 27, from Bourncourt, near Cahir, said he was "sick to death" of the planning system. "I've moved the site of the house three times and it's costing me money every single time (in plans and engineering reports). I have not one sod turned on the house."

Mr English owns the site for his proposed house and works in the local tourist attraction, the Mitchelstown Caves which his family owns and also in the town's Dairygold factory. He said it was frustrating to see other two-storey houses going up, while his own applications were rejected for not being in keeping with the area. "I'm living at home but you can't stay at home forever. And it I was renting, that's just dead money."