Getting permission to turn garden into a driveway

Q&A:I read with interest your piece in last week's (February 8th) Property Supplement about applying for planning permission to convert the garden into a drive.

I live in a park and at one end there are five houses with gardens that narrow down to the gates. Therefore they cannot have driveways. My house is beside one of them and my garden is wide enough to be converted. I applied for permission in 2001 to Dublin Corporation and it was granted. One of my neighbours lodged an objection with An Bord Pleanála and the board granted his objection. Two years later I reapplied and once again my neighbour objected and his objection was upheld. I feel this is very unfair surely I have rights and I wonder if there is any course of action I can take in order to have my garden converted to a drive?

We passed your query on to An Bord Pleanála whose advice (without getting in to the specifics of your problem) is that any person who has been refused for a development should study the reason(s) why the development was refused. They should see if they can satisfactorily address the reason(s) before they lodge a new application.

The board's decision is written in a way that is hoped would be as clear and as helpful as possible and the inspector's report is always available (from its offices or on its internet site) and they should study this also.

If the development was refused for a reason that was technical or design related, you should be able to amend the development and make a new application with an expectation of success.

If, according to An Bord Pleanála, the development was refused on principal then, unfortunately for the applicant, if circumstances are unchanged any new application that comes on appeal to the board is most likely to be refused for the same reason(s).

It can happen - and maybe it has in your case - that you keep submitting the same application. People do this in the hope that eventually in a sort of war of attrition the application will be granted. This won't work. So look at the reasons for refusal and see if you can amend your application accordingly.

Where can I learn more about solar heating?

The recent article in Property on having your house energy audited got me thinking about installing solar heating in my house. There seems to be a lot of new suppliers springing up but I don't even know what I am really looking for. Where do I start?

In looking into solar heating you'll be joining a small but growing band of people who want to avail of one of the most renewable energies on earth. A correctly sized solar water heating system can cover 50-60 per cent of your hot water heating requirement with free solar energy.

But nice and all as that is to know, you really need more nuts and bolts information so that you can assess suppliers and work out exactly what the payback time on an installation you choose will be. The Sustainable Energy Ireland website (www.sei.ie) is a fantastic source of information - aside from general information there's a buyer's guide on solar heating that you should read.

There's also information on grants that you may be able to avail of and which should make the whole process even more attractive.

Send your queries to Property Questions, The Irish Times, The Irish Times Building, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email propertyquestions@irish-times.ie. Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.