40% of planning refusals ‘spurious’

NEARLY 40% of all planning applications are being rendered invalid, often for exceptionally “spurious” reasons, it has been claimed.

In one case, a site notice was the wrong colour while, in a separate matter, the word “dimension” was not written in drawings submitted.

Some of the petty issues have been highlighted by the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland (RIAI) which also noted that, in a specific application, the fee was not submitted even though the fee had been paid electronically, with proof available. In another it was because a site notice was the wrong colour.