Wicklow County Council to Review Devlopment Levies

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Wicklow County Council to Review Devlopment Levies

Friday, April 20 2007

Wicklow County Council has decided to review its development levies after a successful challenge brought by independent councillor Pat Doran. At a special meeting of the councillors last Wednesday (April 18), it was agreed that the Council's Special Policy Committee (SPC) will review the charges and report back to the council in July.

"A young couple building an average house of 200-250sq.m. on an unservices rural site must pay a whopping €8,400 in development levies to the Council," said Cllr. Doran, an Independent candidate in the upcoming election. "That rate was increased last year by the Council from €2,000. That's a hugely unfair burden to put on people. The rates should return to the original amounts, which were much lower and more manageable for people."

The charges fall under the Development Contribution Scheme whereby residential and commercial developments pay a fee to the Council, depending on the location and size of their development. The income generated is then used to pay for infrastructural projects around Co. Wicklow.

Cllr. Doran's objection lies in the huge financial burden this levy and other charges place on young couples. For instance, people building a house on a stand-alone site must pay to have all the additional services, such as water, sewage and lighting, installed. "It can cost €10,000-€12,000 to install a septic tank and percolation area. And you have to pay a ?2000 compliance levy to the Council, which is refundable after you comply with all of the planning stipulations."

Add in €6000 stamp duty on an average site valued at €100,000 plus legal fees and architects' fees, and couples face a staggering bill of up to €30,000, all before they turn a sod - and before they draw down their mortgage, said Cllr. Doran, who voted against the rate increases when they were debated in Council chambers.

Cllr Doran called the special meeting of the Council with the support of six other councillors: Cllr Nicky Kelly, Cllr Bill O'Connell, Cllr Jimmy Shaughnessy, Cllr Tommy Cullen, Cllr Christopher Fox and Cllr Pat Casey. "Voters should know that two councillors running for the Dail voted for these punishing rate increases: Cllr Andrew Doyle of Fine Gael and Cllr Joe Behan of Fianna Fail."

People have to borrow this money to send to the Council with their commencement notice after planning permission has been granted, said Cllr Doran, who has questioned Council officials previously on exactly how these development levies are spent. "This money was supposed to be spent in communities around Co. Wicklow, but that's not happening," said Cllr. Pat Doran, who's based in Carnew, in the south of the county. "What's collected in your local area should be spent in your local area, but nobody knows where that money is being spent. It's not good enough."

Not only that, but it's very seldom that a planning application goes through at its first attempt," he said, adding that it can take young couples up to six months to get an appointment for a pre-planning meeting with Council officials. "Priority is given to developers, simply because there are not enough staff to go around, but it's unfair to place so many obstacles in the way of ordinary people."

Planning regulations place huge restrictions on where people can build their own house, what type of house they can build, and how it can be built, he said. People want to comply with the regulations, but the emphasis on keeping houses invisible in Co. Wicklow is simply not practical in many rural communities and in many farming families

Under the current regulations, Wicklow County Council would prefer if you built your house behind another or behind a ditch. Anywhere, so long as it is not visible. That's simply not practical, in terms of the quality of land for sites, or in terms of family farms, said Cllr. Doran. Everybody accepts the need for regulations, but they must make sense in the context of people's everyday lives and needs, he said.

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