Exempt Rural Works
Rural
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.
Development consisting of the use of any land for the purpose of agriculture and development consisting of the use for that purpose of any building occupied with the land so used is exempt. This applies to the use of the structure rather than the construction.
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 works 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 is 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 100 metres of that complex, is 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 situated and no effluent from such structure shall be stored within 10 metres of any public road.
No such structure within 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 a 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.
Roads
The following is exempt
- development consisting of the carrying out by the local authority or in partnership with another or another on behalf its behalf. of any works required for the construction of a new road for the maintenance or improvement of the road
- 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;
- development (other than development consisting of the provision of access to a national road within the meaning of the Roads Act 1993 ) that consists of the construction, maintenance or improvement of a road (other than a public road) that serves a forest or woodland, or works ancillary to such construction, maintenance or improvement; or works consisting of land reclamation or reclamation of estuarine marsh land and of callows,
Development is not deemed exempted if an environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment is required for it.The Minister may make regulations prescribing development a class of developments authorised or required to be authorised by means of a licence under statutes and in respect of which an environmental impact assessment is required to be deemed exempted.
Combined Heat & Power
The construction erection or placing within an agricultural holding of a structure for the purpose of housing a fully enclosed combined heat and power system is exempt subject to conditions. The ground floor area shall not exceed 300 m². The structure shall not exceed 8 m in height or 40 m in length. It shall be at least 10 m from a public road and at least 100 m from the nearest habitable house (other than that of the owner concerned) any other residential building schools church or building used for assembly. No structure may have more than two flues, neither of which exceed 16 m in height.
Wind Turbine
The erection, construction or placing within an agricultural holding of a wind turbine is exempt. The turbine must not be attached to a building or structure. It must be more than 100 m from any existing wind turbine. The total height may not exceed 8 m. The rotor diameter shall not exceed 8 m. The minimum clearance between the lower tip of the rotor and ground level shall be not less than 3 m.
The minimum clearance of the supporting tower from a party boundary shall be not less than one and a half times the total structure height (plus the blade at the highest point +1 m). The minimum clearance of the supporting tower from non-electrical overhead cables shall be not less than the total height of the structure +5 m. The minimum clearance of the supporting tower from any electricity distribution line shall be not less than the height of the structure +20 m.
The turbine shall be a minimum distance of 5 km from the nearest airport or aerodrome for any communication navigation or surveillance facilities designated by the Irish Aviation Authority or with the consent of the authority. The noise levels shall not exceed 43 dB during normal operations. No more than one turbine shall be erected within the agricultural holding. The component shall have a matt non-reflective finish.
Renewable Infrastructure
The installation or erection on an agricultural structure within the curtilage of an agricultural holding of solar panels (terminal collector of photovoltaic) is exempt, subject to conditions.
The installation within the agricultural holding of a ground source heat pump system or air source heat pumps is exempt, subject to conditions. hospital church or residential building used for public assembly save with the consent in writing of the owner thereof. The noise level shall not exceed 43 dB.