Under the Planning and Development Act, 2000, as amended (the Act), all development, including a material change of use, unless specifically exempted under the Act or associated Regulations, requires planning permission. Enforcement of planning control is a matter for the local planning authority concerned.
Section 4 of the Act and Schedule 2 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended (the Regulations), set out various exemptions from the requirement to obtain planning permission. Any such exemptions are subject to compliance with any general restrictions on exemptions set out in the Act or the Regulations and to the specific conditions set out in each class of exempted development in Schedule 2 of the Regulations.
If a person wishes to establish whether or not planning permission is required for a particular development, or whether it is or is not exempted development, they can seek a declaration in this regard from their local statutory planning authority under Section 5 of the Act. The relevant planning authority is required to make a declaration on the question raised within 4 weeks of receipt of the request which shall be issued to the person who made the request and, where appropriate, to the owner and occupier of the land in question. Where a declaration is so issued by the relevant planning authority, any person issued with such a declaration may, on payment to An Bord Pleanála of such fee as may be prescribed, refer the question for decision to the Board within 4 weeks of the date of issue of the declaration by the local planning authority. Where no such referral is made to the Board, the section 5 declaration by the local planning authority stands.
Under section 57(1) of the Act, the carrying out of works to a protected structure shall be exempted development only if those works would not materially affect the character of the structure or any element of - (a) the structure, or (b) any element of the structure which contributes to its special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest.
In this regard, section 57(2) of the Act further provides that an owner or occupier of a protected structure may make a written request to the planning authority, within whose functional area the structure is situated, to issue a declaration as to the type of works which it considers would or would not materially affect the structure or of any element of that structure. Section 57(3) of the Act provides that a planning authority is required to issue such a declaration to the person who made the request within 12 weeks of the receipt of any such request.
Under section 30 of the Act, I am specifically precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to any particular case in which a planning authority or the Board is or may be concerned, except in very specific circumstances, which do not apply in this case. This includes any enforcement issue.
