new entrance to site. advise on application process

ella28

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice. Basically I would like to change the entrance to our site. We are well into building the house. Our architect applied for the entrance to be adjacent to the house next door. We did not think through the street into the house well enough and only now I realise that it will be very steep (like next door). The natural flow for a lane in would come from the opposite end of the site, it would make for a much nicer entrance and something that I think would be well worth putting the effort into fixing now as It's not something we would be likely to change down the line when garden etc are maturing.

So I need advice on the procedure for applying for a new entrance, possible timeframe and ballpark cost. Situated in Donegal so this might be a question for Mufler.
I am hoping that the coucil would not object due to the lane being quite steep now. Are there any regulations that I don't know off that would cause me to be turned down.

Thanks

Poor Uncle Tom

The lane you are opening onto, is it public of private?

ella28

We are opening onto a public road. There was an entrance into the field for access for the farmer. This was closed and our current entrance is beside house next door's entrance. Would love to revert to original access into the field as this is at other end of our site. This original access was for agricultural use. Dont think it ever had official status as an opening to the field i that makes sense.

Poor Uncle Tom

Makes sense, IF you have adequate sightlines at the new entrance location, and if the new location suites things better, then there is no reason why you can't change around. It will need a new planning application for relocation of entrance from that previously granted planning permission, but there's no reason you wouldn't get it.

ella28

thanks Poor Uncle Tom,
The sight lines would be fine I think and can't see anyone objecting. Have you any idea of possible cost. Will I need to get architect to apply or can I use original plans and apply myself?

Poor Uncle Tom

Imo, you should get a good local Architectural Technician to make the application. Get a price for the job first...

muffler

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Makes sense, IF you have adequate sightlines at the new entrance location, and if the new location suites things better, then there is no reason why you can't change around. It will need a new planning application for relocation of entrance from that previously granted planning permission, but there's no reason you wouldn't get it.

Agreed.

Your architect was correct in showing the entrance twinned with the entrance to your neighbour's house as this would be something the council normally look for but he could have overlooked the difficulty of a steep driveway.

Is there anything to prevent you from using the entrance but rerouting the driveway in the form of a "S" or "C" type layout? Where is your septic tank/sewage treatment system/percolation area located? Will it interfere with the proposed new driveway?

As Poor Uncle Tom stated you will need to reapply for permission and you will need to show good cause for relocating the entrance away from the neighbouring entrance. The gradient of the driveway should not exceed 7% so if you dont have a contour survey of the site you will need one or at least a few spot levels need to be taken. If the route of the existing/proposed driveway is in excess of 7% then you will have good cause for seeking a new entrance and driveway.

Id suggest you engage a professional to do the work and not undertake it yourself and Id also suggest you and/or your agent talk to both the local roads engineer and planner for the area before going too far with this.

ella28

thanks muffler,

I know that it would be standard to put our entrance beside the one next door. I think I should have thought it through more at that point.

Sewage tank etc is behind the house so no problems there.

We have thought about changing to an s or c shape but it doesn't seem to flow right because we would have to always drive around the back of the house at the right to get to the garage which is to the left of the house. To go straight down to the garage would be too steep. Driving around the back would annoy me a lot over time as we have decking out the back as our back door is not at ground level. To acess the house from the other side would mean that we could drive in and drive towards the garage instead of away from it. I will ring the council and make some enquiries and also ring my architect

Ice cubed

Hi to all,

I spent the last few days reading various topics in the construction and planning section of the boards, including all 71 pages of the planning issues thread, and I believe this is where I should put my quirey.
I have a site, with access via a farmers land, but due to recent developments he is being awkward about getting access to the site. A frind of mine who is a conveyancey solicitor suggest this woud be the perfect time to apply for an entrance to the site as it has road frontage.
The site is within one of his fields and I would like to fence it off permanently with the idea of applying for permission to build in the near future. Having my own entrance would make it easier to fence it off and negate any further conflict when making the percolation tests etc. I would like to know if this is sufficient criteria for applying for an entrance? How would I go about applying, is ther a specific application proceedure?
Thanks in advance for any advice on this matter and sorry for any spelling mistakes.

muffler

Ice cubed wrote: »

Hi to all,

I spent the last few days reading various topics in the construction and planning section of the boards, including all 71 pages of the planning issues thread, and I believe this is where I should put my quirey.
I have a site, with access via a farmers land, but due to recent developments he is being awkward about getting access to the site. A frind of mine who is a conveyancey solicitor suggest this woud be the perfect time to apply for an entrance to the site as it has road frontage.
The site is within one of his fields and I would like to fence it off permanently with the idea of applying for permission to build in the near future. Having my own entrance would make it easier to fence it off and negate any further conflict when making the percolation tests etc. I would like to know if this is sufficient criteria for applying for an entrance? How would I go about applying, is ther a specific application proceedure?
Thanks in advance for any advice on this matter and sorry for any spelling mistakes.

If Im reading that correctly you appear to be saying that you bought a site that has no planning permission and access to same is via a lane/private road/right of way. Would that be a fair summary?

There are a few points that need to be considered such as the achievable vision lines, status of adjoining road, Council policy regarding entrances etc etc.

Get a good local architectural technician who should be able to assist you with a planning application but if you wish to reply here then we may give you a couple of pointers.

Ice cubed

A reasonably accurate summary there Muffler and thanks for taking the interest. The site, before I got it, had planning permisson granted twice in the last 30 years but ran out each time and I was hoping to apply for permission in the near future at some stage. There was an entrance submitted with the earlier plans onto the public road that the site adjoins but this too was not acted on at the time. It is a country lane/road with several houses spaced out along its lenght and I'd guess its an unclassified road.
But as it stands the access is via the farmers land, across some fields leading into the site from the rear and as I mentioned earlier its got a bit awkward with him at the moment. I am not sure what the achievable vision lines are exactaly, nor, I'm afraid, do I know the councils policy towards entrances is and I suppose it will probably hinge on those issues. I have a Local architect that I have been discussing the over all idea with but he didn't seem to know much about applying for entrances, well at least on their own outside of a FPP application, but said he was going to look into it. I was wondereing if any one here had any experence with this area. I like getting as much information as possible so I have a fair idea whats going on.

muffler

In this situation you wont be able to make an application for an entrance on it's own. It would have to form part of an overall application for the site. If you wish to keep costs down at this stage make an application for outline planning permission to construct a house.

Im sure that when you bought the site your solicitor would have ensured that you had legal access to it via a R.O.W so there's nothing the landowner can do about that now - what I mean is he cant prevent you from accessing your site via the R.O.W. so even if you dont get an entrance directly to the road then you still have a legal access route.

Given the fact that an entrance was approved before I would think it should be fairly straight forward but your architect should be in a position to look after all this for you.

Ice cubed

Thats interesting to know Muffler, thanks. The main reason with delaying applying for FPP is that I do not fall under local needs and to be honest I am waiting for something to change regarding this directive by the various councils. Little information is available on how its progressing, last I heard was that the EU said it was discrimination on place of birth and that the Government had 3 months to reply, this was June 2008 as far as I can remember. I can't find or am not looking in the right places for further information.

I didn't buy the site I got it from a family member with all the history attached, I am sure there is a 'right of way' clause when the site was purchased, I never checked as I assumed it was the case.

Do you know if there is a way to apply for a temporary entrance, I would like to fence off the site properly with out further contact with the farmer.

Sorry if ther is air of vagueness about the quirey, there is a bit more to this whole story but I'd rather not get into it as much of it legal issues.