Invalid Laois planning applications soar after service goes online
The number of planning applications returned and marked invalid, has shot up in Laois, after the service went online.
Almost half of the applications submitted to Laois County Council were sent back as invalid.
By mid February in 2023, 44 applications had been declared invalid, and 51 found to be valid.
The council says that staff in their "over the counter" service had been able to spot and fix issues but now that Eplanning is live, they are not being sorted, resulting in the initial rejection of the application.
"Eplanning has been live since November 11 2022 and has resulted in a shift by agents in the way they submit applications to the planning authority. The increase in the invalid number of applications is as a result of Eplanning and as the planning authority cannot seek Agents to fix minor issues over the counter but rather return the application as invalid," Laois County Council stated in its February management report.
Before this year, about three quarters of applications received were valid.
In 2021, out of 930 applications received, 742 were valid. In 2022, out of 840 received, 618 were valid.
So far in 2023, the authority has approved 72 applications and refused six, a refusal rate of 7.7%. Two decisions have been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.