Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 March 2010
179 Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if a person applying for planning permission must establish peer title to the lands before planning permission is obtained; if a subsequent dispute about ownership arises would this invalidate the permission granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12087/10]
View answerUnder the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended, a planning application is required to be accompanied by the written consent of the owner to make the application, where the applicant is not the legal owner of the land concerned. My Department's 2007 Development Management Guidelines state that where, in making an application, a person asserts that he/she is the owner of the land or structure in question, and where there is nothing to cast doubt on the bona fides of that assertion, the planning authority is not required to inquire further into the matter.
It would be a matter for the courts to decide whether the fact that an applicant obtained permission to develop land in which he/she did not have a legal interest, without the consent of the owner, would invalidate the planning permission. It should also be noted that, as section 34(13) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 states, a person is not entitled, solely by reason of a permission, to carry out any development.
