COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
QUESTION NO. 3
QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons
"To ask the Chief Executive if the Presentation Order of Nuns have the deeds in their name to the land beside Clondalkin Convent given planning permission for a Nursing home and if they submitted the land deeds as part of the planning process. Is this a legal requirement? and who owns the land the Church and car park are on?"
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 19th 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.