The Gazette 1967/71

planning authority have refused permission. The letter of appeal should be addressed to the Min ister for Local Government, Custom House, Dublin, and should state your reasons for the appeal. If the local authority decide to grant you per mission, remember that other people can appeal against the decision — for instance, a neighbour may appeal on the grounds that the development you propose would adversely affect his property. Where such an appeal is made, it has to be de termined by the Minister and you cannot start work unless and until the Minister decides to reject the appeal and to grant the permission or approval you have sought. If there is no appeal against a decision to grant permission, the actual grant of permission will be issued by the planning authority as soon as pos sible after the expiration of the appeal period, that is, one month. Until you received this docu ment, the development is not authorised and work cannot be commenced. If you buy a house on an Estate If you are buying a house on an estate develop ed by a building firm, planning permission will already have been obtained by the developers and you will not have to seek permission yourself. Nevertheless, in your own interests, you should find out the terms of the planning permission granted, and satisfy yourself that your house complies with the permission granted and that adequate guarantees exist for the satisfactory completion of the estate in accordance with the plans. The problem of "unfinished" housing estates has arisen partly because house-purchasers failed to satisfy themselves that the developer was legally committed to complete the develop ment properly. While the Planning Act of 1963 conferred strong powers on planning authorities to see that housing estates are properly com pleted in the future, you are still responsible for satisfying yourself in advance that the estate de veloper has assumed clear responsibility for the proper completion of the estate and that he can, if necessary, be forced to complete it. If you want to reconstruct or extend your house Reconstruction work is exempted from plan- 166

(a) particulars of your interest (if any) in the land and name and address and (b) a copy of a newspaper circulating in the area in which notice of intention to apply for ;the permission or approval has been published or, (c) a copy of a notice erected on the land stating that planning permission or approval is being sought. When applying for an outline permission, you should forward a plan or particulars sufficient to enable the planning authority to identify the land and to determine the siting and layout of the development you propose. In the case of a new house, you need send only a section of the Ordnance Sheet—or a tracing from it—on which you have clearly marked the boundaries of the site and the proposed location of the house. It is desirable also to indicate what provision is being made for water supply and sewerage disposal and to know the position of the septic tank (if one is necessary). More detailed plans will be required when you apply for a full permission or for approval after you have obtained an outline per mission. These will include a site or layout plan, drawings of floor plans, elevations and section, water and sewage connections and detailed plans of septic tank, if one is proposed. Normally you should lodge these plans in duplicate, keeping copies for yourself, but some planning authorities may require more than two copies. Advice on requirements may be obtained from the offices of the planning authorities. Some of them have devised special application forms to facilitate applicants. A planning authority must decide on a proper ly made application for permission or approval within two months from the date the application is received; if they do not do so, they are deemed to have made a decision to grant the application. If they decide to grant your application (either with or without conditions) they notify you. If you consider that any conditions proposed are too onerous, you can appeal against them. The appeal must reach the Department of Local Government within the period of one month, beginning on the day on which you receive notifi cation of the planning authority's decision. In the same way, you can appeal within a month if the