Exempt Development Rural / Agricultural

In areas other than a City, town,  certain other specified in the Act and certain excluded areas, the following development, primarily rural development, is exempt subject to compliance with  conditions.

The use of uncultivated land and semi-natural areas for intensive agricultural purposes is exempt, provided that the area shall be less than 100 hectares.

Temporary Use of Land

The temporary use of any land for the placing of any tent, campervan or caravan or the mooring  of any boat, barge or other vessel used for the purpose of camping, is exempt subject to the following conditions;

• not more than one tent or camper van should be placed within 100 metres of any tent campervan or car van;
• no tent, campervan, car van or vessel shall remain on the land for a period more than 10 days;
•  no tent, campervan, caravan or vessel shall be used for the storage, display, advertisement or sale of good for the purpose of any business.

They shall not be paid for land within 50 metres of any public road, unless the road is enclosed by a wall, bank or hedge or any combination thereof, having a height of not less than 1.5 metres.

The temporary use of land by a scouting organisation is exempt.  It shall not be used for such purposes for any period or periods, exceeding 30 days in a year.

Various

Works relating to the construction, maintenance of a gully, drain, pond, trough, pit or culvert, the widening of watercourses, the removal of obstructions from them or the making of repairs to embankments in connection with foregoing words is exempt.

The construction or erection of any wall or fence, other than the fence of sheet metal or wall or fence within or bounding the curtilage of a house is exempt.  The height of the wall or fence shall not exceed two metres.  The height of any fence for the purpose of deer farming or conservation shall not exceed three metres.

The carrying out of works for the purpose of mineral prospecting and certain ancillary works in accordance with a lease or license from the Minister is exempt.  The carrying out of work for the purpose of searching for petroleum and the erection and placing of structures in accordance with petroleum prospecting licence is exempt.

Agricultural Structures I

There are a wide range of exemptions in respect of agricultural structures.  Works consisting of the provision of a roofed structure for the housing of cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, horses, deer or rabbits, having a gross floor area not exceeding 200 square metres and any ancillary provision for effluent storage, is exempt.  The structure must be used for no purposes other than agriculture.

The gross floor area together with other structures within the same complex or within a 100 metres of that complex, are not to exceed 300 square metres, gross floor space in area.  There shall be adequate effluent storage facilities to serve the structures.  No such structure shall be situate and no effluent from such structure shall be stored within 10 metres of any public road.

No such structure within a 100 metres of a public road shall exceed eight metres in height. No structure shall be situated, no effluent and such structure shall be stored within a 100 metres of a house, other than the house of the person providing the structure or any residential building, school, hospital, church or building used for public assembly, save with the consent of the owner or occupier thereof.  No unpainted metal sheeting shall be used for roofing or in the external finish of the structure.

Agricultural Structures II

Works consisting of the provision of a roofed house, roof structure for the housing of pigs, mink or poultry having a gross floor area not exceeding 75 square metres and any ancillary provision for effluent storage is exempt.  The conditions are similar to the above.  In addition, boundary fencing on any mink holding must be escape proof.

Works consisting of the provision of roofless cubicles, open loose yards, self feed silos and silage areas, feeding aprons, assembly yards, milking parlours or structures for the making or storage of silage or other structures of a similar character, having an aggregate floor space not exceeding 200 square metres and ancillary provision for effluent, are exempt.  The conditions are similar to those above.

Work consisting of the provision of any store, barn shed or glass house or other structure not of the type mentioned above, with gross floor area not exceeding 300 square feet, is exempt.  As above, the structure shall not be used for any purpose other than for the purpose of agricultural or forestry use, but excluding the housing of animals or the storage of effluent.

The gross floor area of such structure together with other structures situated within the same farmyard  complex or complex of such structures, or within 100 metres of the complex, shall not exceed 900 square metres in total.  No such structure shall be within 10 metres of a road.  Structures within 100 metres of public road shall not exceed 8 metres in height. No such structures shall be within 100 metres of any house other than that of the person providing it, or any church, school, hospital or similar building etc. No unpainted metal sheeting shall be used for roofing or on the external finish of the structure.

Agricultural Structures III

The erection of an unroofed fenced area for the training, exercising or training of horses or ponies together with drainage bed or material to provide an all weather surface is exempt.  The structure shall not be used, other than for such purpose.  No such area shall be used for the staging of public events.  No such structure shall be situated within 10 metres of any public road. No entrance shall be directly on any public road.  The height of any such structure shall not exceed two metres..

Work consisting of the provision of a roofed structure for housing greyhounds, not having a gross space floor space exceeding 50 square metres and  ancillary provision for effluent storage, is exempt.  The structure must not be used for any other purpose.  The gross floor area of any such structure together with other structures within the premises or within 100 metres, shall not exceed 75 square metres in aggregate.  Effluent storage facilities which are adequate to serve structure must be provided.  No such structure shall be situated and no effluent from such structure shall be stored within 10 metres of any public road.

No structure within a 100 metres of the public road shall exceed eight metres in height.  No structure shall be situated and no effluent from the structure shall be stored within 100 metres of a house other than the house of the person providing the structure, nor within 100 metres of any residential premises, church, hospital building, etc.

Work consisting of the provision in connection with keeping of greyhounds, of a roofless hard surface structure or a roofless hard surface enclosed area, not exceeding 100 square metres and ancillary provision for effluent storage, is exempt, subject to broadly similar conditions as those above.  The gross floor area of any such structure or structures together with such structure situated within the same complex or within 100 metres of that complex, shall not exceed 150 square metres gross.  Similar conditions to those above  apply.

Peat, Forestry and Reclamation

Peat extraction in a new or extended area of less than 10 hectares is exempt.  Peat extraction in new or extended area of 10 hectares where the drainage of the bogland commenced prior to the legislation is exempt.

Initial afforestation is exempt. The replacement of broad leaf type forest by conifer species is exempt, provided the area shall be less than 10 hectares.

The following are exempt

• development consisting of the thinning, felling or replanting of trees, forests or woodlands or works ancillary to that development, but not including the replacement of broadleaf high forest by conifer species is exempt
• development (other than where the development consists of provision of access to a public road) consisting of the construction, maintenance or improvement of a road (other than a public road) or works ancillary to such road development, where the road serves forests and woodlands is exempt
• works consisting of land reclamation or reclamation of estuarine marsh land and of callows

Land reclamation development consisting of the carrying out on land which is used only for the purpose of agriculture or forestry of any of the following is exempt;

• field drainage, land reclamation, removal of fences or improvement of existing fences;
• improvement of hill grazing, reclamation of  estuarine marsh land or callows where their preservation is not an objective of the development plan for the area