Over 40% of planning appeals overturned

Some 42.1% of planning decisions in Offaly that were appealed to An Bord Pleanála last year were overturned by the board.

The figures were revealed in the planning board’s annual report, which was published recently.

A total of 275 planning decisions were made by Offaly County Council last year and of these 20, or 7.3%, were appealed to An Bord Pleanála. The board made 19 formal decisions, with 42.1% of cases overturned, 47.4% varied and 10.5% of decisions upheld. of the 20 decisions appealed to the board eight related to residential development, four were industry, two were agricultural development, two were retail, one related to community facilities, one was education, one was utilities and one was miscellaneous development.

An Bord Pleanála’s annual report revealed that the number of cases it received last year was up 9% on 2014, which it says reflects the increase in construction activity. That trend has continued in the first half of 2016 with case intake up 21% compared with the same period last year.