Future for young family uncertain after simple home extension refused

A YOUNG father has slated the planning process after Bórd Pleanala over-ruled one of its senior inspectors and rejected a simple house extension.

Father-of-two Howard Walsh, 34, from Cork, said the ruling leaves his family facing an uncertain future.

“I adhered to everything but it’s failed us. I have lost complete faith in the system,” he said.

Mr Walsh bought an old three bedroom semi-detached bungalow on the city’s Boreenmana Road in 2006 with a view to renovating and extending it for his family.

In 2007, he lodged a planning application with the city council for a two-storey extension to the rear.

There was one objection from a man who owns the house behind the bungalow and the council refused planning.

Mr Walsh and his engineer met with planners and resubmitted scaled-down plans for a single-storey 28sqm extension.

The council approved it and Mr Walsh gutted the house for internal renovations and moved his family to a rented home.

But on the last day of the four-week appeals period, it was appealed to Bórd Pleanala on behalf of the representatives of the late Ann Coughlan, c/o Patrick Coughlan, Killinear, Sun Nook Park — the house behind Mr Walsh’s.

The appellant argued that the extension would as a result of its size, scale, bulk and mass, be overbearing in nature, overshadow, dominate and devalue his property.

Senior planning inspector Brendan Wyse visited the site and recommended that planning be granted. He said the extension would not have “any significantly detrimental impact” on nearby properties.

“The design of the extension is in keeping with that of the house and, in my view, represents a reasonable approach to extending the house on a restricted site,” his report said.

But the board over-ruled him and refused planning. It said the roof design would be “inconsistent with the hipped-roof profile and design character” of the existing bungalow and would “constitute a visually overbearing and incongruous feature in the streetscape” which would detract from nearby homes.

It said changes to the external design could resolve the issue.

But Mr Walsh said he and his wife, Samantha, who runs Rembrandts Hair Design nearby, are devastated.

“We don’t know where we are going to go from here. This has cost us a fortune and we are still in rented accommodation,” he said.

“The council cleared it, the board’s senior inspector cleared it but these faceless people, who haven’t even seen our home, turned it down.”

Mr Walsh said he can’t understand how the 17-storey Elysian Tower, which he can see from his front door, can be built in a residential area of two-storey houses, and how three and four-storey apartment complexes are being built in other residential areas while his simple extension is shot down.

Green Party Cllr Chris O’Leary described the board’s ruling as “ludicrous”.

“It’s another example of the board not listening to one of their inspectors,” he said. “Here is somebody who wants to settle in his own area and make improvements to an old house. He has been very fair and open with the system. But he’s been done down.”