Sterilization of Landholding

Hi,

I am looking on information regarding sterilization on land holding.
The County Council has refused us planning permission after two years.
One of the reason was that a family member had received planning permission with the condition that they would sterilize the rest of the landholding. The family land holding is not even 5 acres. My husband is from the area and the land has been in the family for at least 30 years. We currently life with his family we have two children and we have a need to live in the area as our daughter is attending the school in this area. We are appealing this decision and I would be grateful if anyone has information or has experienced the above.

Thanks,

Erin

see this one from ABP [broken link removed]
to see how hard they are when land has been sterilised. I believe that once they have a signed letter accepting the sterilisation it is valid. Make sure they actually have a letter on file from the landowner not just a condition in the planning.

A know of two cases (my own included) where they asked for this condition, the landowner wrote back and told them that they had no right to seek to limit his earning potential, livelihood etc etc and the condition was dropped. The 2nd one was where the condition to sterilise merely limits applications from members of the landowners family.

This is a standard thing with pp. The applicant/landowner has to agree to steralise a certain portion of the land (incl a certain portion of road frontage).....however it is usually only for a specified time period (I think usually 5 years).
When did your family member get the original pp with this condition? If the 5 year period is nearly up you would be as well off waiting.
If not then Im not sure if you can appeal....but if it is something that the landowner agreed to then I can't see how.

Hi,

My father in law never signed a document that he would agree to sterilization of his land.
My brother in law has his planning for three years and he has started to built on the land.

There was only a condition in his planning stating they would have to sterilize the rest of the land.
As my father in law has not signed any documents does this mean that it would only apply to my brother in law site?

Re signed letter

Most councils look for a signed letter of landowner and some even look for a signed legal Deed.

Have a read of the planning consent that your brother-in-law got and see if it says anything about x numbers of years or any other conditions - don't take his word what it says have a read of it yourself. You can also go to the council now (with your brother-in-laws planning ref) and get a copy of the actual consent or agreement (if any).

The council are probably covered in law without the written consent but with enough money and effort you could probably overturn that in the courts. The only problem then is that the council would just refuse you based on something else.

Most county plans will contain a statement such as this “Such agreements or conditions may in the future be reviewed in the light of changes in the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.”


If this is the only reason that you were refused I personally would not seek to appeal it to ABP unless you felt that are clearly in the wrong about the sterilisation agreement.

Have a read of the Planning Acts here
http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIPol.nsf/wvNavView/Planning?OpenDocument&Lang=

Firstly you can appeal the decicion to An Bord Pleanala for a small cost, this is worth taking a shot at. In the appeal to ABP, you should submit a cover letter specifying that your father-in-law owns the land. If you work locally or have ties to the land, this should also be included in the cover letter. They may overturn the decision to refuse. Often messy planning conditions are allowed to sit on the shelve.
If this fails, I would strongly advise you to write to one of your local councillor. Explain your situation... Having worked as a local authority planner for a few years, you'd be amazed at the bending of conditions when a councillor starts to throw their weight around. If there is some sort of unofficial agreement that is reached you may be able granted planning permission if you apply again.
Failing this, if you don't want to go down the legal route, you might try and hire a planning consultant. They often deal with such messy cases, they might be able to make headway by negotiating with the planners.