Claims that people living in sheds in Mullingar garden

Although 30 planning complaints have been lodged with Westmeath County Council since the start of this year, just three warning letters had been issued to date, it emerged at the April meeting of Westmeath County Council.

Enforcement concerns were raised by a number of members and among them was a claim by Cllr Mick Dollard that one homeowner in Mullingar has people living in sheds in their garden.

Asking what the current state of planning enforcement is in Westmeath, Cllr Dollard said that some time ago he had written to the authority about a planning breach at a house in town – but he now understands there are two sheds in a garden at that property inhabited.

“Here we see a flagrant abuse of the planning laws,” he said, as he pressed for action on the issue.

Also concerned over enforcement was Cllr David Jones, who said that a recent case in Dublin where a homeowner was in trouble over having external insulation applied to their home had been led several people to raise queries as to how this might impact on them.

Cllr Leonard was surprised to see that just three warning letters had issued to date in 2025, despite the fact that 13 complaints were lodged: “There doesn’t seem to be any enforcement, prosecutions, convictions, et cetera. And it seems we’ve closed up more cases than we’ve seemed to follow up on,” he said, referring to the fact that 15 cases have been closed since the start of the year.

Asking whether there are sufficient staff in the enforcement section, Cllr Leonard said it is a source of frustration for the public if flagrant abuse of planning or any other issues are not followed up on.

Responding, chief executive Barry Kehoe said planning enforcement takes a considerable period of time. Explaining that it is a judicial process, he said the work is similar to what the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) has to do in that what is effectively a ‘book of evidence’ has to be prepared; the council’s legal time then have to put together a case they think will win in court.

He added that a conviction under the Planning Act is essentially a criminal conviction comparable to that applied through the criminal courts, so it was important to build a case correctly.

Jean Ryan, director of services, told the meeting that the council has a dedicated planning enforcement team, led by a senior executive planner. The team has, she said, made good inroads into the historic planning files and putting procedures in place.

Defending their performance, she pointed out that of the 30 complaints received, 24 had resulted in site inspections, and 14 cases had been closed because there are “various things that can happen” following a site inspection.

Insulation

Responding to Cllr David Jones’s query on external insulation, Mr Kehoe replied that as far as he was aware, the house in Dublin was a protected structure, and the appearance of the structure was integral to its character and to its value.

He said those having external insulation on their houses should seek a Section 5 declaration to satisfy themselves that planning issues wouldn’t arise in the future. Such a declaration would guarantee that the works the applicant was proposing to carry out were exempted from the need for planning permission.

If the authority was, however, not in a position to give a Section 5 declaration, then it would be incumbent on the person to apply for planning permission for the works, Mr Kehoe added.

Moate

Cllr Tom Farrell asked for a timeline on when serviced sites in preparation in Moate would be made available, and Ms Finney said the council has been interacting with auctioneers on the sale of the sites, and how best to promote them.

She said a launch will be held to drum up interest.

“Once we’re a bit further on with that, we’ll arrange for a launch as part of the promotion for the sale of them and to draw up interest. And hopefully there’ll be a good response to them.

A query was raised at the same meeting by Cllr Vinny McCormack about Gort An Locha estate in Moate. He said there were a number of measures to be undertaken there to improve safety, including the enhancement of speed reduction measures, and he wondered what progress has been made.