COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

QUESTION NO. 4

QUESTION: Councillor Eoin Ó Broin

"Applicants for planning permission to South Dublin County Council should indicate whether they are freeholders or leaseholders of the property for which the permission is being sought. In the case of planning application, SD18A/0328 ( Nursing home building comprising 155 bedrooms and all associated ancillary accommodation ), the application included a letter stating that the applicant, Bartra, had permission to apply from the owner of the property, the Presentation Sisters Order. In the 'further information' received by South Dublin County Council as part of the same application, a statutory declaration was submitted stating that the Presentation Order had owned the property since 1857. To ask the Chief Executive to justify as to how 'letters of permission' and 'statutory declarations' are valid indicators of ownership and interest in a property for which planning permission is being sought?"

REPLY:

Under the Planning Regulations, 2001 as amended, a planning applicant who is not the legal owner of the land or structure in question must submit a letter of consent from the owner in order to make the planning application. There is no requirement in planning law for the submission of land deeds as part of the planning process. The subject planning application was accompanied, as required, by a planning application form which indicated that the applicant was not the owner or occupier of the land but that the application was made with the consent of the owner of the lands, the Presentation Sisters. The required letter of consent from the Presentation Sisters accompanied the planning application.

Planning application SD18A/0328 was granted by South Dublin County Council and granted on appeal for a nursing home by An Bord Pleanala on 19^th November 2019. The Board considered a submission which related to a stated right of way through the lands and, on the basis of the documentation before them, indicated that this was a matter between the Board of Management of Scoil Mhuire and the Presentation Sisters and not a planning consideration. The Board also noted the response to this matter by way of additional information requested by the Local Authority.

The Development Management Guidelines for Planning Authorities published by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in 2007 state as follows:

The planning system is not designed as a mechanism for resolving disputes about title to land or premises or rights over land; these are ultimately matters for resolution in the Courts. In this regard, it should be noted that, as section 34(13) of the Planning Act states, a person is not entitled solely by reason of a permission to carry out a development.