The Planning Code provides for extensive public notification of proposed development. It is a general requirement that a valid application for planning permission must be advertised by site notice and a notice in an approved local or national newspaper. These notices must state, inter alia, that the planning application may be inspected or purchased at the offices of the planning authority, and that submissions or observations in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the five week period beginning on the date of the receipt by the planning authority of the application.
Article 19(4) of the 2001 Regulations provides that where a valid planning application is made in respect of any land or structure, and a subsequent application is made within six months from the date of making the first-mentioned application in respect of land substantially consisting of the site or part of the site to which the first-mentioned application related, the site notice for the subsequent application must be on a yellow background rather a white background. Accordingly an existing site notice could not be replaced by a notice of the same colour unless there was over six months between the two planning applications.
Article 20 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 was amended in 2006 to require a site notice to be removed by the applicant following the notification of the planning authority decision on a planning application.
Article 26 (5) of the 2001 Regulations also provides that the notification from a planning authority to an applicant that his/her planning application is invalid, must request the applicant to remove the site notice. I have no plans at this time to further amend the legislation in relation to site notices.