Cork still charging schools levy for planning

CORK County Council is continuing to charge fees and development contributions for school building applications despite planning laws allowing them to waive such charges.

The Department of Education singled out the local authority last year as one of a small number where it was having problems when it applies to build or extend schools. At a hearing of the Oireachtas Education Committee last September, a department official said the matter was being addressed in discussions with the council.

But An Bord Pleanála has just intervened in another case where the planning authority had sought to impose a development contribution of €111,199 in respect of a new primary school building planned in North Cork.

The department had applied in May last year to build a 12-classroom school for Scoil Bhríde in Rathcormac, where most of the 230 pupils are currently taught in prefabs because of a surge in the local population. But while permission was granted last February, the department appealed to An Bord Pleanála against the condition seeking the development contribution, arguing such a development should be exempted from the fees.

A year earlier, a similar case arose when the levying of a contribution charge of almost €1m was appealed by a private company contracted by the department to build a primary and second-level school in Bantry under a public-private partnership. Cork County Council’s decision in that case was overturned by An Bord Pleanála just over a year ago, in one of several precedents cited in the department’s appeal in relation to the Rathcormac case.

The council did not respond to the appeal and An Bord Pleanála has now told it to remove the condition seeking payment of the contribution. A council spokesperson said it is important to note that projects are not delayed while development contributions are under appeal.

The board was satisfied that the school is to be built for a voluntary organisation (the school board of management), was intended for educational use by local people and was not to be used for profit or gain.

These criteria govern developments which can be exempted from development contributions under 2001 planning regulations and allowed for in the council’s development contribution scheme.

A Cork County Council spokesperson said that a mechanism exists to allow development work proceed while appeals like this one are dealt with, meaning the project is not delayed. The department is currently considering tenders received in May for the construction of the school.

Meanwhile, Cork City Council’s decision to impose contribution charges of €215,021 on Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) for changing a former factory building to education use has been upheld by the appeals board. The college had objected to the condition last January, claiming that the application satisfied the same conditions relating to exemption from planning fees. However, An Bord Pleanála deemed that the charges should apply as CIT is not a voluntary organisation.