An Irish mother-of-one says her family has given up cycling after she was threatened with two years in prison and an £11 million fine by the council for installing a small bicycle shed in her front garden, used to store her and her son’s bikes, as well as her elderly mother’s wheelchair.
Siobhán Kelly, a resident of Clontarf, a coastal suburb north of Dublin, says she was “flabbergasted, upset, and scared” after receiving a letter from Dublin City Council accusing her of “unauthorised development” – an offence which carries a potential prison sentence and a mind-boggling fine.
Kelly installed the small bicycle shed to increase accessibility for her elderly, wheelchair-using mother, who passed away last year, and to allow her and her son to more conveniently access their bikes, which were previously stored inside their home and constantly “dragged” through the property’s narrow hall.
> Shedgate: Planning officers “got it wrong” says Leicester mayor
However, despite appearing to comply with the local authority’s regulations concerning the placement and size of the shed, the storage facility was nevertheless reported to the council, who – though not venturing to visit the property itself – deemed it to be in breach of planning laws, forcing her to move the shed to her back garden and put it up for sale.
That decision, Siobhán says, has also prompted her and her son to give up cycling and sell their bikes, and is indicative of the lack of “joined-up thinking” when it comes to cycling infrastructure in Dublin, a place where millions are currently being spent on flagship cycle routes but her bike storage facility is deemed to be beyond the pale.
“I don’t know why I gave it such concern, but I did”
“I had a bike and my son was using his bike for everything – he was going everywhere on the bike, that was his transportation. And it was super,” Siobhán tells road.cc. “I was kind of a leisure cyclist, and we’ve had a cycle path in Clontarf for quite a while, and I would use that, which helped with issues in my knees.
“The other thing was that my mother had become quite elderly, and less mobile, so we used a wheelchair for her. But the wheelchair was really heavy, and dragging in it and out of the house was becoming a problem.
“So what I decided was that we needed a shed, so I could literally just open the door and take the wheelchair out, and we’d be off for a lovely walk. And that meant a lot to an 86-year-old woman, it enabled her to get out and about.”
After choosing a small two metre-high, sloped storage unit, worth €1,350 and able to store her mother’s wheelchair as well her and her son’s bikes, Siobhán decided to clarify the legality of storing her shed in her front garden with Dublin City Council.
“I was kind of concerned, thinking was this going to be an issue? Is it too high? I don’t even really know why I gave it such consideration, because on the road I live on there are a number of bigger sheds placed in smaller gardens,” she says.
“So I don’t know why I gave it such concern, but I did. I emailed Dublin City Council, and I gave them all the details of the unit, but most importantly I said I wanted to put it in my front garden.”
In response to Siobhán’s query, the council sent the Clontarf resident a link to its FAQs page. Under the question ‘Can I build a garden shed on my property without permission?’, the council says: “Yes, provided that: It is not forward of the front wall of the house; It is not greater than 25sqm; 25sqm of garden space is left; The Shed finish is in keeping with the house”, and that the shed’s maximum height comes to four metres with a pitched roof.
That response, according to Siobhán, appeared to give her the green light to install the shed, due to its placement within the boundary of her garden (and against the wall to the left-hand side of her property), and its relatively small proportions (2.6 square metres with an apex of two metres).
“All that made perfect sense,” she says of her initial understanding of the council’s regulations. “Of course I’m not going to put the shed out on the path, it’s within the confines of my property, and every second house has one of these things, including both of my adjacent neighbours! We did everything they asked us to do, it was perfect.”
“Why am I being singled out?”
Having assumed that “there was no issue with me having a shed”, and with Dublin City Council not appearing to raise any objection to Siobhán’s request to place it in her front garden, she then purchased and installed the unit in December 2022.
However, just a month later, she received an enforcement letter from the local authority accusing her of “unauthorised development” and breaching planning law after the placement of her shed was reported to the council.
In response, Siobhán penned a 20-page letter outlining her apparent compliance with the authority’s regulations and her need for the shed.
Nevertheless, and despite the council’s inspector failing to personally visit her property, a follow-up letter in March warned her that, unless she dismantled the shed by the end of June, she could face a maximum fine of €12.7 million (around £10.8 million) and two years in prison, as well as having to pay the cost of the council’s investigation – a penalty she deemed to be “beyond what could be considered reasonable”.
The council’s letter, warning Siobhán that she could be subject to a €12,697,380 fine if she did not move her bike shed
“I was flabbergasted, I was really upset, I was pretty flipping scared,” she said of her reaction to her potential punishment. “But I also thought, this is really unfair. Why am I being penalised, why am I being singled out?”
Siobhán told road.cc that two other sheds on her street – one of which is used to store bins – have also since been found to have breached planning laws but, thanks to a council inspector visiting their properties, one has been allowed to stay after the officer exercised statutory discretion, a decision the Clontarf resident described as “purely subjective”.
“There just wasn’t any discussion or room for negotiation,” she says of her own dealings with the council. “And I wasn’t going to apply for planning permission for it because it seemed the council had made up its mind.”
“If it’s not convenient, you’re going to take your car. There are two people now not on bikes because of this folly”
Following the letter, and after taking legal advice, Siobhán chose to take the council’s decision “on the chin” by moving the shed to her back garden, where she says it is now up for sale and “currently sitting doing nothing”, due to her not being physically able to carry the bike up the steps in her property, which also features an especially narrow 1950s front door and hallway.
The decision, she says, has resulted in Siobhán and her son giving up cycling due to the added inconvenience.
“The shed was very important to my mother, the joy it brought to her life was immeasurable,” she tells road.cc. “But I’m not a serious cyclist, I don’t have all the gear, I had a bike with a nice basket on the front. I could fly over to the nursing home on it, I could fly round to the shops, I could go for a wee cycle on the cycle lane, work out my knees a bit.
“If the weather is fine enough, even in the winter, and it’s convenient, all you have to do is open the shed door and take the bike out. But if it’s not convenient, you’re going to take your car. And I am a prime example of that.
“The unit has moved to the back. The two bikes are gone – I gave my son’s bike away, I sold my bike for about a sixth of its value. We pretty much drive everywhere now. Whereas my son used to cycle to school, he gets a lift now every day.”
As Siobhán notes during her chat with road.cc, her experience dealing with Dublin City Council isn’t the first time that a cyclist in Clontarf has fallen foul in recent years to the authority’s seemingly draconian stance on bike sheds.
In April 2022, the council forced a family on St Lawrence Road to remove a green plastic bike shed from their front of their home after claiming it would cause “serious injury” to the street of mostly listed houses, arguing that it was “unsympathetic” in appearance and added “visual clutter” to the area.
A lack of “joined-up” thinking?
Siobhán argues that these decisions – which impact the ability of families to cycle by ridding them of safe storage facilities – fly in the face of the Irish government’s stated ambition to increase cycling and walking numbers in the country.
In fact, transport minister Eamon Ryan’s announcement that €290m is set to be made available for active travel infrastructure this year was made last week while standing next to the currently in-progress flagship 2.7km cycle lane between Clontarf and Dublin city centre – and just yards away from Siobhán’s now bike shed-less property.
“At the end of our road, there’s a €65 million cycle lane being built, and we can’t use it. There’s no point building all this infrastructure when you can’t park a bike on your own property. There are two people now not on bikes because of this folly,” she says.
“Eamon Ryan is standing across the road, going on about the progress of these cycle lanes, and I’m thinking I’ve just given away my son’s bike, I’ve sold my own bike for about a sixth of the cost of it. I won’t be cycling now on these beautiful cycle lanes.
“If I left our bikes outside of the house, with the best will in the world they’re going to be stolen. Unless they’re in a locked-up shed, I have no chance. Clontarf Garda station has literally hundreds of bikes in there, that they’ve collected stolen.
“It just doesn’t add up. Yes, spend all this money on a beautiful cycle path, it’s great. But get the other infrastructure in place first. It’s like building a load of houses without having water or electricity.”
> “It’s all just to make room for cyclists”: Locals blast removal of bus stops on new cycleway route
The “joined-up thinking” called for by the Clontarf resident has at least shown some signs of making headway within Irish political circles, after Green Party TD Steven Matthews drafted a legislative amendment last summer that would automatically exempt bike storage units from requiring planning permission – though any hopes of it making its way into law in the next few months appear slim.
“It’s a reasonable request to be able to put a simple, secure bike lock-up in your front garden,” Matthews said. “We should make it as easy as possible for people. We’re trying to get more people onto bikes.”
And the way to get people on bikes, Siobhán believes, is by allowing them to store their bikes safely in their gardens.
“Ultimately I want to put my shed back,” she says. “I want the council to allow everyone to have sheds in their front garden, whether they’re going to store bins in it, bikes, garden tools. I’d like to be able to do that too. And maybe in time a bike would find its way back into my possession again.”
Of course, prolonged bike shed planning sagas are not solely an Irish issue.
In November, we reported that a homeowner who installed a wooden bike shed outside his one-bedroom property in a Grade II listed former workhouse in Ironbridge, near Telford, will not be allowed to keep the “very modest” storage facility after the council and a planning inspector objected to the structure, claiming it would “lead to a harmful cumulative change to the listed building”.
And in autumn 2021, during a debacle dubbed ‘Shedgate’ by locals, Leicester City Council told a family that it would need to remove its homemade eco bike shed as it was not in keeping with the Victorian character of the street, something numerous people pointed out did not seem to be an issue with the on-street car parking that lines the road.
Following plenty of support for the family’s case, however, the city’s mayor even got involved to admit that planning officers had “got it wrong”, before it was triumphantly announced that the bike shed could stay.
78 thoughts on “Cyclist threatened with €13 million fine and two years in prison over bike shed, forcing her to give up cycling”
stick an ugly van in the road
stick an ugly van in the road that has a tail lift, and use that for a shed.
Could even jack it up, remove
Could even jack it up, remove the wheels and put it on bricks. If it gets graffiti’d up with “[head of planning department] is a [expletive of choice]” by someone later, there wouldn’t be much argument to the sentiment
Declare the vehicle SORN and what can they do?
ROOTminus1 wrote:
Remove it, if it is in the road with a SORN.
Every single shed listed in
Every single shed listed in the article is on private land; driveways and in front gardens. Why would anyone pay vehicle excise duty solely for an act of malicious compliance?
Maybe read the comment to
The comment to which you originally replied said, “stick an ugly van in the road…”
Touché.
Touché.
The question still stands, but I would like to redirect it to @Muddy Ford.
ROOTminus1 wrote:
I would, happily, and I like the suggestion above about ‘someone‘ doing some mindless graffiti on it.
Well, just maybe, things are
Well, just maybe, things are going to change. By dint of being classed together with those other bi-wheeled blights on the local amenity – the wheelie-bins – bicycles could get a reprieve:
https://www.mrw.co.uk/news/government-planning-changes-to-end-bin-blight-14-02-2024/
The size limit they’re
The size limit they’re suggesting would mean having to choose between storing your bike(s) or your wheelie bins, unless you could build more than one store (but there would probably be something about these dimensions being the total you could have). If they limit it to something that small, you might not be able to store your tandem/tricycle etc. either.
‘..the Government is proposing that houses in protected areas can also construct bin and bike stores in front of their homes….The housing department suggest that it may be necessary to limit the size of such outbuildings, suggesting they be no larger than two metres wide, one metre deep and one-and-a-half metres in height.’
At least they’re not
At least they’re not referring to stored bicycles as a ‘bicycle blight’, but then again it might help if they were regarded thus if it meant that people would be allowed to build a decent-sized bicycle shed.
Shurely seven-bins-Sunak
Shurely seven-bins-Sunak should be championing bin sheds? Oh, wait.
Count Binface it is then.
(Yes – that won’t help you in Ireland…)
I agree that the decision is
I agree that the decision is a pile of shite … but based on the information in the article, the owner has misunderstood the requirements.
[Snip]
“Yes, provided that: It is not forward of the front wall of the house;”
[Snip]
And
[Snip]
That response, according to Siobhán, appeared to give her the green light to install the shed, due to its placement within the boundary of her garden (and against the wall to the left-hand side of her property)
[Snip]
The shed is clearly forward of the front wall of the house; it appears that Siobhán has taken the ‘front wall of the house’ to be the boundary wall.
The wording from the council doesn’t seem that ambiguous to me … but I would have sought a second opinion if the fines are that high.
Certainly seems like she’s got a shit deal though.
my thoughts exactly. Though
my thoughts exactly. Though her shed is a temporary structure which is clearly movable and not a built shed – so not unlawful development in the way the fine implies.
Planning law in the UK is a mess and overwhelmed by the number of works and lack of fundign each council has to consider. Conservation areas add to that burden where everythign is about maintaining the status quo.
We need regulations to avoid complete chaos but we also need updated policies.
PS i’m an architect…..
Global Nomad wrote:
Could be different in Ireland though.
Exactly. I think I might have
Exactly. I think I might have been tempted to push the shad back against what looks like a converted garage. It looks like that would be behind the front wall on the right. Obviously, not a permanent solution but if she could have got a planning inspector out they might have some hope of getting a sensible compromise and put it back where it is.
I find wheelie bins and
I find wheelie bins and recycling bins left on display much more offensive to the eye. And cars.
See my comment below. Or go
See my comment below. Or go straight to the link:
https://www.mrw.co.uk/news/government-planning-changes-to-end-bin-blight-14-02-2024/
Just do what someone around
Just do what someone around here did. They were refused planning permission for a cycle store on their front drive as “it wasn’t in keeping with the traditional style of houses”. So they bought an old Transit van, parked it on the drive, did dome modifications to the body work to secure it. As the vehicle was SORNed and parked legally on private property, there was nothing that the neighbours could do.
They did complain to the council, but the the council stated that as the vehicle was legal , there was nothing they could do.
Just put that on a cart,
Just put that on a cart, chained down. The cartwheels and axles don’t even need to be functional.
Whilst I find current
Whilst I find current planning laws and the contractiction between being able store a tonne or more of metal on your drive and not being able to have a small bike store bonkers, Im not feeling much sympathy for the woman.
First – she’s milking it. ” I sold my bikes “
Second – She checked and was clearly told she couldnt have anything forward of the front wall of her house (note – not the boundary wall), but she went and did it anyway.
Play me the worlds tiniest violin.
Moreover, from the photos
Moreover, from the photos there did used to be a garage, but it’s been converted to living accommodation. If they now find they need garaging for bicycles after all, not too much sympathy. It’s not about lack of space, it’s about making choices.
I’d think that was the granny
I’d think that was the granny flat for her mother before the clog-popping occurred.
Buy an messed up EV van that
Buy an messed up EV van that pays no road tax for the time being, cheapest possible car insurance pay by the mile, park it on the road on the side of your neighbor you resent.
Draw flowers with a spray on it to mark your win.
cyclisto wrote:
outside the house of the objector to the cycle shed. Graffiti on the side “I wasn’t allowed a shed, so I bought this van”
Buy an old van, park it in
Buy an old van, park it in your front garden, declare it Sorn. Lovely bike shed which fits in with the rest of the street scene full of cars/vans. Win win.
Yepp, sad but true. The car
Yepp, sad but true. The car centric society won’t see this as a problem whereas an actual bike shed is up there on the list of ‘Things that make my blood boil’ with 20mph speed limits and LTNs.
40 School Rd
40 School Rd
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.231094,-1.837221,3a,75.0y,355.40463h,79.33915t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1spDYEp_2bZq-vH7rPx99RCQ!2e0
Unmoved in at least a decade. Probably the most exciting thing happening in Great Alne aside from drying paint.
Having a quick snoop on
Having a quick snoop on streetview, it seems many of the properties on this road have done garage conversions or extended the width of the house up to the boundary, completely removing external access to the rear garden! (including this property)
As a result, there’s nowhere to store vehicles but outside and the only place to store the collection of wheelie bins is in the front garden.
Many have built bin stores and there are other questionable building choices on the street, not least the glazed gable end of the next door property. Plus, another very odd looking front extension where there’s a huge window straight into the dining room, that makes the house look like a restaurant!
So, whilst I think they have breached the planning regulations, it seems petty to penalise them given what some of the other neighbours have done. It’s a shame they didn’t just replace the shed with a Sheffield stand to lock the bikes to, then thrown a cover over – maybe one in a lurid colour that rustles in the wind.
Clearly the problem with this
Clearly the problem with this shed is it lacks the required wheels to fit in with the “ambience”. That problem is easily solved with a couple of hundred quid to buy a knackered old van.
Also lads, there’s no SORN in Ireland. You make a declaration of non-use of motor vehicle to the Motor Tax Office. Sheesh.
Also lads, there’s no SORN in
Also lads, there’s no SORN in Ireland
There’s no SORN in Lancashire either. Or MOT, if you have a private arrangement with the police. As driver J Whitaker Agricultural Services and Groundworks 07766 076612 well knows- which is why he can park most nights outside the pub in Garstang, 150 yards from the police station
Quote:
On the face of it, it looks like she may have misunderstood what the council were saying (and that she misunderstood it in her own favour is purely coincidental).
The Man on the Dublin Omnibus would presume that ‘the front wall of the house’ means ‘The front wall. Of the house.’ Not ‘the front wall or other fence style thing marking the forward boundary of your property’. I think.
Meaning: ‘any shed must be behind your house’, not ‘any shed must be on your property’ (which I would have thought went without saying).
All that being said, the proposed fine seems a little harsh…
Plenty of the ‘off-the’-shelf
Plenty of the ‘off-the’-shelf’ bike storage units in front of (terraced) houses around us; some of the larger Victorian villas have bespoke built storage on the walkway between pavement and front door. Not sure you even need planning permission; never hear anyone moaning. Wheelie-bins and recycling boxes left everywhere; now that’s an eyesore. Get the council to deploy some of the on-street bike storage units; now they really send the NIMBYs into orbit (loss of a parking space).
The headline “Cyclist
The headline “Cyclist threatened with €13 million fine and two years in prison” is not accurate. The law allows for a penalty of up to €13m (or actually €12.7m) or a prison term of up to 2 years. She was never actually threatened with anything specific.
The letter threaten her
The letter threaten her
What a nasty letter
What a nasty letter
The letter (and the law)
The letter (and the law) provides the penalty for an offence is a fine or imprisonment or both. Presumably though that level of fine would only ever be used for egregious breaches by e.g. a commercial developer who stood to make serious money by breaching planning.
Should consider an Outbox
Should consider an Outbox Underground Cycle Garage
Technically any ‘structure’ in front of your house (the front elevation of the property) requires planning permission. Some councils have been known to turn a blind eye, but ultimately, can decide to ask you to remove the structure without planning authority. Councils are particular about conservation areas and listed buildings, where a cycle shed would have detrimental visual impact.
Outbox stores your cycles, ebikes or mobility scooter underground, in an easily accessible secure container. This has minimal visual impact and little effect on the ‘character’ of a residential neighbourhood. Research has suggested that councils may be more amenable to this solution.
Outbox is still in development and I am seeking funding to get this innovative product to market.
jarpots wrote:
I think you forgot to declare an interest in this product, jarpots?
Its my first post on this
Its my first post on this website so a little unfamiliar with protocol. Very happy to declare an interest. Just trying to solve an obvious problem. If this is unnacceptable, let me know and I will delete.
‘Outbox is still in
‘Outbox is still in development and I am seeking funding to get this innovative product to market.’
Looks like a declaration of interest to me..
That’s because they went back
That’s because they went back and edited it …
You can even tell that from the quote in brooksby’s post.
Looks like it’d be good for
Looks like it’d also be good for when the in-laws want to come and stay but you just can’t find room.
Or indeed for yourself when you’re long past cycling…
chrisonabike wrote:
It’s what he would have
It’s what he would have wanted…
You’d get the measure of folks soon enough, if one said “ooh – look at that Shand Levret!” or peered into the pit looking for abandoned torque wrenches!
Good luck with that Jarpots.
Good luck with that Jarpots.
So very James Bond.
And seeing the relatively high income of some of the users of this site, you may have caused some interest.
New and helpful use for
New and helpful use for potholes, innit?
chrisonabike wrote:
How many would fit in the Albert Hall, do you think?
Daclu Trelub wrote:
You’d have to ask wtjs, they’re closer to Blackburn, Lancashire. Probably hidden under untaxed vehicles with no MOT there though so that’s more work.
Looks fabulous…but I notice
Looks fabulous…but I notice the website says not a word about price, perhaps you could enlighten us? I’m guessing with the structural works plus a hydraulic platform it’s not going to be much shy of thirty grand?
How do you get it dry ?
How do you get it dry ?
And how quickly does it fill with water when you come home in torrential rain?
I guess it would need a
I guess it would need a soakaway beneath it. But things could still remain pretty dank down there – perhaps not ideal for a steel frame?
Sriracha wrote:
Perhaps the manufacturer will clarify but I’d guess with a hydraulic system and electrics down there too the hole would have to be properly tanked with concrete, so you’d in effect be building a basement in your front yard – which could lead to many planning headaches not to mention huge costs.
Hirsute wrote:
Would need to be set above the ground water level and allowed to drain into the ground. If it were above ground water level, there would be a problem of resisting floatation for the concrete chamber.
The more I look at this the
The more I look at this the more I’m thinking there must be room for a environmentally aware, suburban version of Thunderbirds.
How can I fit five bikes in
How can I fit five bikes in that?
jarpots wrote:
That looks very cool and desirable, but I can’t see that many people are going to spring money for that when they could easily buy a cheap shed instead. Good luck with it, though
how does this work if my
how does this work if my driveway is at an angle of about 10 degrees?
What about buried services? there will be gas, electricty, water and sewage pipes between the house and the road, missing all of them could be a challenge, so some are likely to need diversion.
Is the top rated for vehicle loading, or do I have to ensure I don’t drive over it? If it is vehicle loaded, iwhat surface is provided for good grip, in the wet, or in the winter?
You park over it so no one
You park over it so no one can nick your bike !
Hirsute wrote:
so I need to move the car (in my cleats) every time I want to get a bike out?
If you want to keep it safe.
If you want to keep it safe.
Can nobody shed some light on
Can nobody shed some light on this problem
All these comments are
All these comments are interesting, but, elephant in the room, what sort of bloody paradise does she live in where she can store bikes outside at night? What rainbow does she live at the end of?
I think she doesn’t, and that
I think she doesn’t, and that’s why she wants a shed:
There are many places where
There are many places where bikes stored in locked-up sheds will still get stolen, as a locked-up shed is not much security, compared to being locked up in a garage or house.
Clontarf, supposedly. Less
Clontarf, supposedly. Less likely to get bikes nicked, but it’s still Dublin, where cycle theft is rife all over.
The advice from the UK
The advice from the UK government which was published earlier this month is actually to store/charge ebikes/escooters outside. There is therefore a contradiction between local authorities and national government. If you follow the logic of the local council, they are prioritising aesthetics over safety. At local and national level, they really should be joining up to advocate for safer practices and encourage more external storage/charging solutions, not banning them. Keeping them inside is not the safest practice at all.
roger.nolan [at] gmail.com
the council will argue bikes can be stored in the rear garden, which is outside without falling foul of planning regs.
Of course the rear garden is
Of course the rear garden is preferable from a security and aesthetic perspective. Some people, however, don’t have a rear garden or may not be able to access it. For example, what about people with Long Johns/ Urban Arrows or even e-trikes? What about those in townhouses that don’t have access to a rear garden, etc etc? What about older/weaker people who can’t maneuvre the bikes up and down steps? Ebikes can be a lot heavier. Point is this can be a real safety issue for some, so the Council should be careful before giving unilateral judgments.
Roger N wrote:
I don’t say the council are right, that is just their view. Clearly it is preferable not to drag dirty bikes through the entire house from front to back garden.
My ebike manufacturer
My ebike manufacturer recommends against charging outside of the house or garage.
Sheds can be quiet damp, which in turn can increase the risk of short circuit in either the connector or the charger unit.
[It’s also not recommended to install freezers, washing machines and tumble dryers in sheds or unheated garages for the same reason, unless the manufacturer has approved them for such location]
The best advice really, is to only buy equipment that has been regulated – ie, from a reputable manufacturer, charge in line with the manufacturer instructions and *never* leave it fully unattended while charging.
[It’s also the reason why I chose a bike with a battery that can be removed for charging]
You repeated the same bloody
You repeated the same bloody thing so many times I just gave up reading halfway in.
I must admit, the bike shed
I must admit, the bike shed stops you from appreciating the lovely plastic wheelie bins.
Could Siobhán paint it red
Could Siobhán paint it red and noone would notice it?
It’s Dublin City Council –
It’s Dublin City Council – shower of arseholes, always have been. As for the reporter of the shed – look no further than next door, where Grassy O’Grassington lives.
‘Can I build a garden shed on
‘Can I build a garden shed on my property without permission?’, the council says: “Yes, provided that: It is not forward of the front wall of the house; It is not greater than 25sqm; 25sqm of garden space is left; The shed finish is in keeping with the house”, and that the shed’s maximum height comes to four metres with a pitched roof.
That response, according to Siobhán, appeared to give her the green light to install the shed, due to its placement within the boundary of her garden (and against the wall to the left-hand side of her property), and its relatively small proportions (2.6 square metres with an apex of two metres).
The shed is clearly forward of the front wall of the house, something that Siobhán conveniently chose to ignore; the rule is petty but she is in violation.
I think this is one of the
I think this is one of the most absurd cases I’ve ever heard. The council officer who made this decision needs to give their head a wobble.
The Planning system across
The Planning system across the UK is utterly broken. I’m in the process of appealing a tiny balcony out the back of a sh1tty bin lane in Newcastle. The LA has lied on the enforcement notice and if I win, will then seek to recover my costs. This photo shows a Planning cock-up which allowed this massive development to overlook these properties. Planning?
What the Dublin resident should have done is had a failed MoT van delivered as scrap, because the flaccid ‘planning’ farce isn’t an enabler; it’s a gatekeeper and gets in the way of people trying to do The Right Thing, yet allows Tescopoly to run amok.
The rusting van eyesore would be allowed. Sadly the Enforcement Officers just follow outdated backward rules with little context or joined up thinking, rather like cycle infrastructure. Planning officers rarely bother to visit tiny infractions because they are busy firefighting Big Developers, who have well paid private planning advisors. Except with infra, sound guidance is there but highway planning ignore it and build sh1te.
Welcome to #brokenbritain (and Dublin).
Here’s a rather rich irony I
Here’s a rather rich irony I discovered whilst idly browsing this story: whilst its rules mandate no bike sheds allowed beyond the front wall of houses, at its own eighteenth-century Central Area Office in Dublin the council has installed a bike hangar right in front. Apparently council-owned buildings are exempt from planning rules (not being sarcastic, they are). I’m all for bike storage everywhere but which looks more out of place, a bike shed outside a fairly nondescript new build in the suburbs or a hangar outside a Georgian building in the town centre?