Planning and Development Act 2024
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Certification of development to which this Chapter does not apply | ||
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254. (1) In this section— | ||
“applicant” includes a person on whose behalf another person applies for a certificate; | ||
“court” means the Circuit Court for the circuit in which all or part of the development to which the application under subsection (3) relates is situated. | ||
(2) For the purposes of this section— | ||
(a) 2 or more persons shall be deemed to be acting in concert if, pursuant to an agreement, arrangement or understanding, at least one of them makes an application under subsection (3) or causes such an application to be made, and | ||
(b) land shall not be deemed to be in the immediate vicinity of other land unless it is 400 metres or less from the other land. | ||
(3) A person may, before applying for permission in respect of a development— | ||
(a) consisting of the provision of 4 or fewer houses, or | ||
(b) for housing on land of 0.1 hectares or less, | ||
apply to the planning authority concerned for a certificate stating that this Chapter shall not apply to a grant of permission in respect of the development concerned (in this section referred to as a “certificate”), and where the planning authority grants a certificate, this Chapter shall not apply to a grant of permission in respect of the development concerned. | ||
(4) Subject to— | ||
(a) subsections (6) and (11), and | ||
(b) the applicant for a certificate providing the planning authority with such information as the planning authority may reasonably require to enable it to perform its functions under this Chapter, | ||
a planning authority to which an application for a certificate has been made under and in accordance with this section shall grant a certificate to the applicant. | ||
(5) An application for a certificate shall be accompanied by a statutory declaration made by the applicant— | ||
(a) giving, in respect of the period of 5 years preceding the application, all particulars that are within the applicant’s knowledge or procurement of the legal and beneficial ownership of the land on which it is proposed to carry out the development to which the application relates, | ||
(b) identifying any person with whom the applicant is acting in concert, | ||
(c) giving particulars of— | ||
(i) any interest that the applicant has, or had at any time during the period of 5 years preceding the application, in any land in the immediate vicinity of the land on which it is proposed to carry out the development to which the application relates, and | ||
(ii) any interest, of which the applicant has knowledge, that any person with whom the applicant is acting in concert has, or had at any time during the period of 5 years preceding the application, in any land in the said immediate vicinity, | ||
(d) stating that the applicant is not aware of any facts or circumstances that would constitute grounds under subsection (11) for the refusal by the planning authority to grant a certificate, and | ||
(e) giving such other information as may be prescribed. | ||
(6) (a) A planning authority may, no later than 4 weeks from the date of the application to it under this section, require an applicant for a certificate to provide it with such further information or documentation as it considers reasonably necessary to enable it to perform its functions under this section. | ||
(b) Where an applicant refuses to comply with a requirement under paragraph (a) or fails, within a period of 8 weeks from the date of the making of the requirement, to so comply to the planning authority’s satisfaction, the planning authority shall refuse to grant the applicant a certificate. | ||
(7) A planning authority may, for the purpose of performing its functions under this section, make such further inquiries of an applicant or any other person as it considers appropriate. | ||
(8) The Minister may make regulations in relation to the making of an application under this section. | ||
(9) Where a planning authority fails either to grant or refuse to grant a certificate within the period of 4 weeks from the later of— | ||
(a) the making of an application to it under this section, or | ||
(b) where it has made a requirement under subsection (6) within the period of 4 weeks from the making of an application to it under this section, the date of receipt by it of the information or documentation to which the requirement relates, | ||
the planning authority shall, on the expiry of that period, be deemed to have granted a certificate to the applicant concerned. | ||
(10) Particulars of a certificate shall be entered in the register. | ||
(11) Subject to subsection (12), a planning authority shall not grant a certificate in relation to a development if the applicant for the certificate, or any person with whom the applicant is acting in concert— | ||
(a) has been granted, not earlier than 5 years before the date of the application, a certificate in respect of a development on the land on which it is proposed to carry out the first-mentioned development, or land in its immediate vicinity, and the certificate at the time of the application remains in force, or | ||
(b) has carried out, or has been granted permission to carry out, a development referred to in subsection (3), not earlier than 5 years before the date of the application in respect of the land on which it is proposed to carry out the first-mentioned development, or land in its immediate vicinity. | ||
(12) A planning authority may, where paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (11) applies to the applicant for the certificate or any person with whom the applicant is acting in concert, grant a certificate in relation to a development if— | ||
(a) the aggregate of any development to which paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (11) relates and the first-mentioned development referred to in subsection (11) would not, if carried out, exceed 4 houses, or | ||
(b) in circumstances where the said aggregate would exceed 4 houses, the aggregate of the land on which any development to which paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (11) relates and the land on which it is proposed to carry out the first-mentioned development referred to in subsection (11) does not exceed 0.1 hectares. | ||
(13) Where a planning authority refuses to grant a certificate, it shall by notice inform the applicant of the reasons for the refusal. | ||
(14) (a) Where a planning authority to which an application for a certificate has been made refuses to grant the certificate, the applicant may, not later than 3 weeks from the date on which the applicant receives notification of the refusal, or such later date as may be permitted by the court, appeal to the court for an order directing the planning authority to grant the applicant a certificate in respect of the development. | ||
(b) The court may, at the hearing of an appeal under paragraph (a)— | ||
(i) dismiss the appeal and affirm the refusal of the planning authority to grant the certificate, or | ||
(ii) allow the appeal and direct the planning authority to grant the applicant a certificate in respect of the development concerned. | ||
(15) A planning authority shall comply with a direction of the court under subsection (14). | ||
(16) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), a planning authority shall revoke a certificate, upon application in that behalf being made to it by the owner of land to which the certificate relates, or by any other person acting with the permission of such owner. | ||
(b) A planning authority shall not revoke a certificate under this subsection where permission has been granted in respect of the development to which the certificate relates. | ||
(17) A person shall not, solely by reason of having been granted a certificate, be entitled to a grant of permission in respect of the development to which the certificate relates. | ||
(18) A certificate under section 97 of the Act of 2000 granted before the repeal of that section by section 6 shall have effect on and after that repeal as if granted under this section. |