Progress report: creating a new home

Planners of Kerry

Any local council has to manage the development and redevelopment of the housing stock. It is an essential component of modern living. A trip along many rural roads in Ireland will find a landscape littered with "pre-planning regime" bungalows that do little to acknowledge their context or their neighbours.

When those rural roads are in an area of outstanding beauty and topographical importance and the need to control development becomes an even higher priority.
Certainly in our part of West Kerry, diligent planning officers work hard to make sure that any development complies with the comprehensive guidelines created by the county council.

Although there are a few stunning examples to the contrary, the guidelines push design toward a very conservative, regional vernacular style. Our first planning application was refused and knocked back to us with reference to its design and scale  being inappropriate to the location and existing house.
In preparing our second application we downsized the proposal and removed the offending design elements, e.g. a first floor terrace, and added a couple of vernacular flourishes. It was clear that any idea of making a radical architectural statement was not on the cards. The decisions for the second application focused on defining the inside of the house. We  were looking to create rooms we would enjoy living in that also fitted the way we live now and anticipated our future needs and expectations.

From the outset the key element in the new layout was to locate the bedrooms on the ground floor and the "living" rooms  on the first floor. This arrangement "reveals" the view across Smerwick Harbour and, by introducing windows to the east side of the house, a view of Mount Brandon.

It was frustrating to have the second application also refused. Our reading of the given reasons, alongside the response of our architect, encouraged us to appeal the decision at national level.

Lodging the appeal in early March we were told not to expect a decision until September and that fewer than four out of ten appeals succeed. We were delighted to hear in late June that the appeal had been heard and we had been given permission to proceed, as submitted.

Now in early August we have a pack of documents ready to put the construction job out to tender. Let's hope we find a contractor who can offer a quote in the vicinity of our budget and who can start this year. Builders apply now!

Carrigeen as it is now

The front elevation of the permitted development