McDowell's House

narommy

What's the story with McDowells house. I think the county council were a bit harsh on him. He dug a house into the landscape. Surely that is an improvement. In most cases it is required by the councils

Glad tho that the pollys are falling foul of the planners

Sleepy

linkage or details?

aodh_rua

I think the house was slightly lower than the stated plans and he'd also changed the exterior finish.

the_syco

He should be let go.

Just like all the rock stars and other politicans.

And the averge Joe Sloe gets his house knocked down if this happens (and it has).

I say knock it down.

seamus

I think the point of highlighting this was so the rest of country would know about it. Many Joe Soaps fall foul of the planning laws, and sometimes there are stories about them. But rarely do we find out about politicians falling foul of it, and even rarer do we find out what the outcomes are.

So now McDowell has two choices: Do it the right way (maybe lose his house) and keep his job, or do it the politician's way (keep his house) and lose his job.

I know which one I'm rooting for

Sleipnir

the_syco wrote:

And the averge Joe Sloe gets his house knocked down if this happens (and it has).B]

It rarely happens to anyone. To knock down McDowell's just because he's McDowell would be a little unfair.
Don't get me wrong, I can't stand the man (I see him most mornings walking his kids to school and always want to roar something at him) but calls to 'knock it down' even though you don't know exactly what laws he violated isn't right.

spongebob

Of all the things I object to with McDowell this is the weakest one yet and displays shocking ignorance of the crap state of planning (or enforcement as this is) in Ireland and of the uselessness and capriciousness of local authority planners in general . Roscommon never knew there was an issue until they were contacted about it.

1. Sleipnir said it rarely happens that an unauthorised house must be knocked in this country , he is right. The only cases I know were totally unauthorised or far bigger than was allowed or involved overshadowing or building very high.
2. Narommy mentioned that he lowered it , most problems are when houses are built too high not too low .
3. There have been cribs about the exterior, it looks all right to me TBH , if it was built in D4 Redbrick on top of a drumlin in Roscommon then there may be a case to answer. .
4. It was his missus who ballsed up the planning anyway , not him

Let her apply for retention and let her get a fair hearing and leave him alone .

M

ishnid

According to himself (in today's Indo), the Co Co's objections about the outside of the house were as a result of them presuming, for some unknown reason, that the walls were to be timber framed. Apparently there was no indication anywhere in the application that this was to be the case.

And Sleipnir's right - just because *some* powerful people can abuse what power they have to get away with things they shouldn't doesn't mean that McDowell's house should be demolished just because he's a Minister.

spongebob

ishnid wrote:

According to himself (in today's Indo), the Co Co's objections about the outside of the house were as a result of them presuming, for some unknown reason, that the walls were to be timber framed. Apparently there was no indication anywhere in the application that this was to be the case.

Never underestimate the mendacious incompetent lying bunch of unaccountable sleveens that call themsleves planners in this country. One of them then went and grassed McDowell up to the media . Remember that his missus applied to them for an extension to the time for completing the permission , otherwise he could have finished the house and nobody would ever have noticed.

Has anybody met an honest straightforward planner in this country, I have met one out of about 10 I dealt with at various stages . The ones who deal with county development plans are the worst. They have often been taken off dealing with the public because they are so bloody awful that the complaints about them are flooding in.

The rest ranged from useless to awful to corrupt as hell.

Only 10% are competent upstanding professionals from what I see , same as justice ministers I suppose .:)

M

MadsL

Muck as ever is sage and wise.

Damn.

/me calls to angry mob complete with flaming torches "Sorry, lads...It was the missus after all...back to the village everyone!

Angry Mob member: She's a witch! Burn Her!
Mob: Witch! Burn Her! Burn Her!

/me *sigh* Ok, I'll get my scales...


I'll get me coat...

spongebob

Roscommon County Council never explained how the planning permission ran out (as they do) and none of the staff in the planning dept actually noticed or cared until Mrs Mc wrote to them.

They must have converted d'oul computer to run on smokeless coal or some equally fascinating excuse.

M

mycroft

My favourite is Mc Dowells excuse that it was "compliant with the majority of the planning permission"

Must try that excuse in court

"Your honour I was compliant with the majority of the drink driving laws"

Hagar

Why would the missus be responsible for applying for an extension to planning permissions or whatever? Surely a reputable firm of architects / project managers would have been employed to ensure the whole building process went smoothly. That's what people with money do, they don't send the wife down on the bus to the palnning office to sort things out. What a corny excuse.
It would appear that the letter of the law was not adhered to. That is the law was broken. Now if he was the Minister for Turf and Wellingtons I'd say fair enough, it was outside his area of expertise. But he is the Minister for Justice and for him to break any laws is unacceptable. He must be beyond reproach and in this case he isn't.
Corruption of County Council planners is not the question here. He was granted permission to build a certain house at a certain time and he chose to ignore the law. Simple really, he thought he was above the law. Should we allow him to be?

Orion

Hagar wrote:

He was granted permission to build a certain house at a certain time and he chose to ignore the law. Simple really, he thought he was above the law. Should we allow him to be?

On a point of order - It seems to have escaped all the newspapers that McDowell did not get the planning permission himself. He bought the land earlier this year with full pp on it from a woman who lives up the road. (How do I know this I hear you ask? I know her.)

How the planning was obtained is the question - that house is the only building that can be seen from the nearby lake. It's a bloody monstrosity on the side of a hill. Every other structure is hidden behind trees and/or hills.

McDowell's architects/builders screwed up by digging too deep and it's possible that that gave the Co. Council an excuse to rectify a major blunder in granting the planning in the first place.

spongebob

Macros42 wrote:

How the planning was obtained is the question

<snip>

McDowell's architects/builders screwed up by digging too deep and it's possible that that gave the Co. Council an excuse to rectify a major blunder in granting the planning in the first place.

These would be questions for Roscommon County Councils planners. They will never answer them because unlike every other public servant and minister their actions and inactions are protected from scrutiny by the Courts.

The Bord Pleanála is there to protect them from explaining themselves and they know it.

Roscommon County Councils planners only examined the original planning permission when Mrs Mc applied for an extension to it. Had she not bothered they certainly would not have bothered.

M

spongebob

The user Sliabh decided to give me negative rep for my comments about the crap planning system and the crap practitioners in the planning system without sharing his .....emmmmm ...... Thoughts with the rest of you. So here 'they' are:

I haver a load a friends that are planners and I can't agree with what you have posted - sliabh

If they are that defensible Sliabh then defend them in public . If they are Roscommon planners then please explain to us:

1. Who leaked the story from the planning department
2. Why they never noticed that no completion cert had been submitted during the 5 years...or sought it seems .
3. The number of enforcement orders issued for planning in Roscommon this year , and why .
4. The number of enforcement orders issued for planning in Roscommon this year on the planners own initiative .

M