Planning for Agricultural Development

The Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Governement:

PL6: Agricultural & Farm Development - Planning Issues

The Planning Application section covers all general planning information.
A Planning - Agriculture Application with the additional documentation outlined below is needed:

• Schedules of proposed and existing buildings with floor areas, numbers of animals presently housed and to be housed;
• Schedules of proposed and existing effluent storage and spreading methods, capacities, arrangements for ensuring effluent is not diluted with clean water and for ensuring effluent does not cause pollution, etc.;
• Where appropriate, signed agreement with other landowners for spreading effluent on their lands.
• Location map or plan. In addition to Plans, Drawings & Maps ,as outlined for general planning, an application for agricultrual development must include: "the applicant's farm and the farmyard development, watercourses, drains, houses, schools, churches or public assembly buildings in the vicinity; other land in the vicinity in the ownership of the applicant or landowner marked or coloured separately and; land both on and off the applicant's farm, available for effluent spreading, together with any watercourses, drains, dwelling houses, schools, churches or public assembly buildings within 100 metres of such land."
• Site or layout plan

Again in addition to the requirements for general planning: Plans, Drawings and Maps, the application must include:

"existing farm buildings and structures, surfaced and unsurfaced yards, directions of falls, soiled yards, silage pits, etc.; proposed farm building and structures, as above; all yard gates and walls; existing and proposed effluent storage tanks marked or coloured separately; effluent and soiled water drainage layouts and roof water and other clean water collection and disposal systems. All underground water channels, drains and pipes should be shown; all adjoining watercourses, wells, water supplies, etc.; any existing and proposed septic tanks; roads and site boundaries and distances to these."

Power Lines

You should contact your local ESB office if your works are near existing electricity lines, if there are dangers with clearance heights under power lines or if the construction work will bring anyone within reach of the electricity supply to your farm. In fact, you must do so where any overhead lines come within 25 yards of the construction works. As with farm machinery, construction work can bring you into contact with live electricity and lead to severe injury or death.