Another shed question

shovel · 06-03-2023 1:42pm #1

I was reading the other thread about a shed and planning,so I thought I would ask my own shed question if ye don't mind.

About 8 years ago I wanted to built a shed, I approached my neighbours who might be affected and they were fine about it.

So I went ahead without planning

One of the neighbours passed away recently and his house was sold.

The new occupier has approached me about a project that he is considering doing in his back garden that would have a major negative impact (as in structural) on my site.

During the conversation,the shed was mentioned and it was intimated that he would report the shed to the council if I did not agree.

The shed is quite large L 8m x W4 x H 3.5.

Any advice please.

06-03-2023 2:06pm

Sounds like the shed wasn't exempt from requiring planning permission. But it also sounds like it's there long enough (ie, longer than 7 years) that the council can't start any enforcement proceedings about it so who cares. You can approach your neighbour's proposed work on its own merits, not based on any fear of him getting the council on your back if you object to whatever he's doing. And anyway, there's no guarantee they won't report you anyway after they get their own planning permission or whatever.

That said, your new neighbour did go to the trouble of approaching you during the planning stage. That suggests they may not be a total d1ck, which is always nice. Also, there's definite benefits to not being hated by your neighbours (and your neighbour probably feels the same way as thy approached your).

There's probably a compromise that can be reached, which addresses your concerns and gives the neighbour most or all of what they want as well. It obviously takes two to tango , but compromising is usually better than fighting it out & causing misery all round.

Out of curiosity, what's the problem with what your new neighbour has in mind? And how exactly will it negatively impact your site?

Lumen · 06-03-2023 2:19pm

@[Deleted User] wrote

That said, your new neighbour did go to the trouble of approaching you during the planning stage. That suggests they may not be a total d1ck, which is always nice.

Are you sure about that? 😀

@shovel wrote:

During the conversation,the shed was mentioned and it was intimated that he would report the shed to the council if I did not agree.

Obviously 8x4m was not exempted development on size alone, and there might be other reasons it's not exempted, but it's going nowhere after 8 years and it was there when the other party purchased the house, so it's a total dick move for them to make threats, and not wise since they're in a weaker position (if they go ahead with non-exempted development without planning permission you can get the construction stopped).

I would start by determining whether the neighbour's construction is likely to be exempted development. If it is, then you may as well focus on mitigation by working with the neighbour on those structural concerns (and aesthetics). AFAIK structural concerns are irrelevant to planning exemption, and if (say) the construction causes a land slippage it'll be an issue for the courts, and nothing to do with the council planners. You both want to avoid that, since the only winners will be lawyers.

This is not professional advice.

shovel · 06-03-2023 2:30pm

The project is release of groundwater (lots of it) onto my site with no drainage system in in place.

My site is 2 feet lower. Soul is clay with no soakage on both sites.

muffler · 06-03-2023 3:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120320624#Comment_120320624

First impressions are that you shouldn't agree to this.

Regarding your own shed check if you have invoices/receipts for Labour and materials or any other evidence to show it was built 8 years ago as it will be up to you to prove when it was built should the Council ever contact you about it. It's a very modest size so I would suggest you look for retention in the near future. There is normally no great difficulty in getting retention. Just bear in mind that to leave it as an unauthorised development could have repercussions in the future should you ever look for permission for something else on the same site or if you wanted to sell.