Cllr John Fitzgerald questions rate of invalid planning applications in Tipp

Recently co-opted Tipperary County Council member, Cllr John Fitzgerald (FG) has questioned why so many planning applications are returned to applicants as invalid, in comparison to other counties.

In a Notice of Motion, submitted to this month's meeting of the local authority, he questioned the rate of invalid applications, and said that in a recent one month period, 50% of the applications were returned. “This is not the same at all in other counties. Applications are being sent back with ridiculously small problems and these delays cause untold hardship for applicants and agents alike,” he said.

Cllr Michael Murphy agreed with Cllr Fitzgerald and said that when benchmarked against any other counties, there is a huge gap between them and Tipperary. “This concerns me greatly and there are significant difficulties in our system when it seems that we are invalidating up to five times more than any other county,” Cllr Murphy said.

The planning section had prepared a detailed reply in terms of the application process and pointed out that if the validation team does not comply with legislation, legal challenge could result against any decision taken.

Director of Services Mr Eamon Lonergan added that: “The guidelines are very clear but every so often there are trends which emerge in terms of errors being made in the applications and we try to deal with them,” he said.

36% of applications are submitted without agent involvement and Tipp did have the lowest rate of refusal in the country in 2019.

Cllr Joe Hannigan suggested that planning agents should be invited to take part in a workshop to help clear up problems.