**Help Meath Co Council Planning Permission (Emigrating Home) Loads of info inside :)

hogan86

Hi All,

So my fiancé and I are looking to move home from Sydney – Australia in December at the end of the year and will have emigrated abroad for nearly 3.5 years at that stage.

We want to come back and build a house and start our own family. We have found a site that is subject to planning for local needs only. So I have been reading through the Meath CC development plan and page 248 of the document section 10.4 list the guidelines for local rules applicants (put HTTPS in front of website below for it to work): /meathcountydevelopmentplan.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/meath-development-plan-volume-1-written-statement_lowres.pdf

So from my reading and understanding my Fiance will meet the following from this document:

A. ‘’Persons who have spent substantial periods of their lives, living in rural areas as members of the established rural community for a period in excess of five years and who do not possess a dwelling or who have not possessed a dwelling in the past in which they have resided or who possess a dwelling in which they do not currently reside’’

B. ‘’Persons who were originally from rural areas and who are in substandard or unacceptable housing scenarios and who have continuing close family ties with rural communities such as being a mother, father, brother , sister, son, daughter, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law of a long established member of the rural community resident rurally for at least ten years’’

C. ‘’Returning emigrants who have lived for substantial parts of their lives in rural areas, then moved abroad and who now wish to return to reside near other family members, to work locally, to care for older members of their family or to retire, and’’

D. ‘’Persons, whose employment is rurally based, such as teachers in rural primary schools or whose work predominantly takes place within the rural area in which they are seeking to build their first home, or are suited to rural locations such as farm hands or trades-people and who have a housing need’’


So my response to the following as noted above and why we meet these needs would be:

A. My Fiancé has lived in Dunboyne all her life except for the 3.5 years we have been away so there for 25+ years and neither of us own another house or property in Ireland.

B. We will both be living back in her parents’ house, although not substandard but we will be planning a kid very soon and therefore will not be acceptable for the two of us to move in with a baby on the way. Her mam and dad & younger brother live there and her mam also minds kinds too so the house will be overcrowded and all of her family (3 generations) meet the long established member of the rural community for over 10 years. My partner is from Dunboyne village born and bred there. My partner has 2 older sisters (One with a kid who also owns a house in Dunboyne) and a younger brother. Her Dad is from Dunboyne also born and bred there and all his family are from the area too. Her Nana still lives in a small terraced house in Dunboyne so that’s 3 generations of family in the area

C. We should especially meet these requirements as we are living in Australia over 3.5 years and are returning home to be with family and friends and to also work. Her nana is also sick and we would both help in any way we can as she is living by herself and becoming quite fragile.

D. Lastly I am an electrician so not sure if I could fall under the Trades people category.


Now we are looking to buy a site in Dunboyne area in Co. Meath as my partner is from Dunboyne village born and bred there. My partner has 2 older sisters (One with a kid who also owns a house in Dunboyne) and a younger brother.

From all my information above what do people think our chances are for meeting the local needs and being accepted from any of your experience?

My only concern is the the site is 8km away from her parents house and that is from google maps but how do they measure this as if you draw a straight line from her parents’ house to there it may be under 5km whereas taking roads to the site is not the straightest route if that makes sense?

We don’t want to take a big plunge and spend money on land then not be accepted as I have read some horror stories on here and people being denied.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,

BryanF

My two cents,
You have stated She is from a village ie zoned residential and may not actually be considered from 'rural' location. A site outside a village/town settlement will not be considered imho

Inho Buy a house with land and demolish/extend/alter to suit your needs

Poor Uncle Tom

First of all any site you are looking at buying should only be done so, subject to you getting planning permission. Anyone who buys a site before securing planning permission deserves no pity.

You can measure direct distances on 6" maps, any good local agent will help you out here.

The big problem, as I see it, is that you say your partner is from 'the village' originally. This would indicate that the person proving the housing need is actually originally from a settlement node and as such would not automatically qualify to get planning permission for a house on rural zoned lands.

hogan86

I do get what you are saying, I should have provided more information. She is not exactly from the village but from the dunboyne area. Dunboyne itself would be in my eyes a rural area and has only been built up over the last few years. Her parents house is in a housing estate and not a detached house on its own.

How can I find out ifher parents house would be classed as a ''settlement node'' as 1km from heres there is detached rural houses and I suppose the village would be 1km away the other direction?

As we are both living in Australia it is not easy contacting the Meath Co council to explain our situation so looking for advice from any one who has been in this situation. I could highlight the area where she is from on google maps and the site location if that helps?

Thanks

BryanF

Email the planning department of Meath coco and ask for email of planner for the area. Then send the planner a google map and separately link coordinates of parents house, also stating full address

But IMHO you'd better off looking for a house not a site

hogan86

Thanks for all your help.

The prices of houses in Dunboyne are well out of our reach and we could never afford it close to 300k for 3 bed house so the only way we would be able to is build our own and that is why we are looking at going down this route. My partners sister is also looking to do the same as she lives in Australia too.

Why do you think buying is better than building? the land is about 60k so would leave us alot for building plus the way mortgages have gone we will be waiting to find secure jobs to then the struggle to get a mortgage etc.

I will give them an email and see what happens.

Poor Uncle Tom

It's just my opinion but I feel you would be best advised contacting a good local agent who may be in a far better position to present your case to any planner in the best possible light, rather than pi**ing off a planner with a lot of 'but what if' scenarios.

ht9zni1gs28crp

I achieved planning under the returning Emigrant rule...you will be fine and it looks like your circumstances are fairly similar to my own. (Unsure about the Zoning rules around Dunboyne like BryanF states, im 2miles outside Navan)

Couple of tips in amongst all the myriad that you will receive soon if you do go down this route....

They will ask for all the documentation to prove your life in OZ. So bank statements, rent, tax certs even down to car insurance. Bring everything with you no matter how inconsequential you may think it is.

Other documentation will be stuff related to your time in Dunboyne before you emigrated. For example I was an aactive member of my local civil defence and the leader wrote me a reference. Reference's from school, GAA etc also work.

Local rural school was also important and the fact we enrolled our 4year old as soon as we returned.

Renting and working in the locality is also a plus.

and one last tip....stick like glue to the Meath CoCo rural design guide and you will be fine. They hate the two story 3000sqft monstrosities of the past. Put some ideas down on paper and arrange a meeting with your local planner. They prefer to see interaction from the start rather than numerous applications and changes.

This worked for us, three months to achieve planning.

Good luck, you will be fine and enjoy the return to Ireland. Best move we ever made!

Baoithin66

Hi my brother is hoping to retire from abroad having emigrated 50 years build on land he has owned for the last 35 years which is next to my house and 1 mile from where we were born. Any idea what is looked for in these circumstances??