Planning permission for home bakers

An Bord Pleanála has upheld a decision by Galway County Council to grant planning permission for the construction of a 15m² structure on the grounds of a house in Gort used for a home-baking business.
Annemarie and Noel Smullen were granted planning permission by Galway County Council to build the structure ancillary to their existing house for use in conjunction with their home-baking business at 52 Burrenview, Gort last Summer. This was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by neighbour, Brid McNamara, care of Clarig Consulting Engineers Limited.
Ms McNamara’s objection raised issues surrounding direct deliveries to and from the Smullen’s house and direct sales from the house and she stated that while the scale of the proposed structure may be small compared to other commercial structures, it would, she asserted, affect the residential amenity of the adjoining properties and being 4ft over the existing fence, would block daylight and sunlight from the adjacent garden. The objection stated that the development would generate an unacceptable flow of traffic and that the business operates 24-hours a day, seven days a week. It also noted that the level of traffic was a concern in terms of child safety.
Responding to this objection, the Smullens lodged a letter with Galway County Council, which indicated that they operated a small baking business specialising in wedding and occasion cakes from the house and deliveries were in the order of approximately one per week. The business is primarily Internet and telephone based but there is a requirement for some meetings at the house. These, they said, are limited. They stated that it is usual that the cakes are delivered to the venues directly and did not accept that the operation of the business generates unacceptable traffic flows.
The appeal to An Bord Pleanála asserted that the existing enterprise has no permission and the use is not exempt under the relevant Planning and Development Regulations, the business is unauthorised and the current application is for an extension to an unauthorised business. The validity of the application was questioned and the appeal stated that the site notice was not fixed in a conspicuous position, was not easily visible and was not legible by persons using the public road.
In this regard, according to the appeal, the site notice was not erected in compliance with regulations. The appeal also stated that the inadequate car parking facilities at the site results in traffic chaos and the disturbance suggests an activity that is totally out of character with the residential area.
The Smullens refuted this saying that in terms of the traffic hazard associated with the development, “it is considered that this has been wildly exaggerated.” They stated that the level of traffic generated by the development was the same as that involved with any domestic dwelling house and that when a customer calls to the house it is by appointment. The parking standards quoted by Ms McNamara, they claimed, are not applicable in the circumstance of a home business. They submitted that a condition restricting delivery times would be acceptable, but it is not considered necessary.
The Smullens said that the number of cakes produced per week is an average of five, all of which are delivered and the deliveries to the house involve small quantities. Customers visiting the house might amount to four or five cars per week at most.
The issue that the application amounts to an extension of an unauthorised use of the house is not the case and that there is no change of use and the applicant essentially ‘works from home’. The house is still a home and there are no employees and the house remains in its entirety, a domestic house, the couple outlined to the board.
An Bord Pleanála upheld Galway County Council’s decision to grant permission to the Smullens for the structure. Having regard to the small scale and ancillary nature of the proposed development, An Bord Pleanála said it was satisfied that, subject to compliance with four conditions it set out the development proposed by the Smullens would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity.
The board directed that the building be used solely for the purposes of home-baking as detailed in the documentation submitted with the planning application and for no other purposes without a prior grant of planning permission. It also limited deliveries associated with the baking enterprise to between the hours of 9am and 6pm, Monday to Friday.