Pre-Planning Consultation
What is a pre-application consultation?
Planning law facilitates pre-application consultations (also referred to as pre-planning meetings) between Leitrim County Council and any person who has an interest in land and who intends to make a planning application. This process is set out under section 247 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
Pre-planning consultations give prospective applicants for planning permission the opportunity to discuss their proposal with a Leitrim County Council planner.
In order to expedite the process, pre-application consultations are often conducted via phone or email. Face-to-face meetings are also available, but usually for larger or more complex proposals. These will be arranged by the Development Management Planning team.
Anyone seeking a pre-planning consultation requiring confirmation that a proposal is exempted development (in other words, planning permission is not required) should submit a request for a Section 5 Declaration.
The benefits of pre-application advice
Pre-application consultations have many benefits, as they can help to streamline the planning application process by improving the quality of subsequent planning applications and raising awareness of relevant planning issues with applicants.
However, the carrying out of pre-application consultations cannot prejudice the performance of Leitrim County Council in carrying out any of its functions under the Planning Acts and Regulations. Furthermore, as the planning application process is a public process, Leitrim County Council cannot predetermine any proposed development before a formal decision is made on a planning application.
Pre-application consultations therefore cannot bind Leitrim County Council to any subsequent decision. However, a record is maintained, as required by legislation, of all formal pre-application consultations and a copy is kept with any planning application in respect of proposed development to which the pre-application consultation relates.
Requesting a pre-application consultation
Pre-application consultations are only available to parties who have a legal interest in the site of the proposed development. If you do not have a sufficient legal interest in the property concerned (in other words, if you do not own the property) then you must obtain a letter from the owner of the lands consenting to you engaging in pre-application consultations with Leitrim County Council.
Before requesting a pre-application consultation
There are a number of things you can do in advance of a pre-application consultation that can help to guide your proposed development.
You can access a range of relevant policy documents, information and guidance that Leitrim County Council will have regard to when assessing your planning application:
- the Leitrim County Development Plan
- any Local Area Plan that may affect your site
- national planning guidelines on a range of topics, including residential development, building heights, flood risk assessment
- strategic national and regional planning policy including the national planning framework, regional spatial and economic strategy and the metropolitan area strategic plan
- You can access Leitrim County Council’s online map-based planning system to check the planning history of the site or surrounding area – this could highlight potential planning issues that may arise.
- You can seek your own professional advice from an architect, planner, engineer or other relevant advisor or agent.
Before requesting a pre-application consultation you should ensure that you have at least the minimum level of information required to conduct a consultation. Details are provided below.
Requesting a pre-application consultation
To request a pre-application consultation, you must submit the documents listed below. Your request will be logged when sufficient information has been received.
Please complete the form below
Your request for a pre-application consultation as well as all the required information should be emailed to: planning@leitrimcoco.ie
You should provide at least the minimum level of detail required to conduct a productive pre-application consultation, details of which are provided below.
If your proposed development comprises one or more of the following you should indicate this in your request for a pre-application consultation:
- Residential development of 10 or more housing units (houses, apartments, duplexes or a mix of these types)
- Non-residential development of more than 1,000 square metres
How to submit a request for a pre-application consultation
In order to try to ensure that your pre-application consultation will be productive you should try to ensure that a minimum level of documentation and information is provided in advance of the meeting. Leitrim County Council may not facilitate a consultation request until all relevant information has been received.
As there are many different types and scales of development, the nature and scale of your proposal will ultimately dictate the level of detail required to conduct a productive pre-application consultation. However, as a minimum, the following details are required:
- The address of the property / lands concerned
- Confirmation that you own the property / lands concerned; if you are not the owner, you will have to provide a letter from the owner giving consent to you having pre-application consultations with Leitrim County Council on the property / lands concerned
- A description of the proposed development
- A site location map at a scale of at least 1:2500
- A site layout plan
- Sketches or drawings of your proposal
- Additional information such as photographs may also be supplied
As a general rule, the more information and detail you can provide, the more productive your pre-application consultation with Leitrim County Council is likely to be.
Some categories of proposed development, mainly large-scale developments, have statutory timeframes within which a pre-planning consultation must take place.
However, in all other instances, Leitrim County Council endeavours to respond to requests for pre-application consultations within six working weeks. However, this period may be extended, at the discretion of Leitrim County Council, depending on resources and workload.