Pomeroy man living in ‘log cabin’ given permission for new house

A Pomeroy man who has been living in a ‘log cabin’ for the past five years has been granted planning permission to build a proper house in its place.

Mid Ulster planning committee members accepted the applicant is a full-time resident in the cabin, and they recognised that the current structure is very expensive to heat due to poor insulation. Crucially, they noted that Mid Ulster’s planning department had recognised the said structure as being a “domestic dwelling”, back in 2014.

The planning application was lodged by Building Design Solutions, Main Street, Pomeroy, on behalf of Damien Hamilton, 73a Tanderagee Road, Pomeroy.

Principal planning officer, Karla McKinless, stated at this week’s Mid Ulster planning meeting: “This full application is for the proposed replacement of a modular dwelling of timber construction.

“It is single-storey and has two interconnected sections, with decking along the eastern and southern elevations. It contains two bedrooms, a playroom, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a hallway and lobby area. It is currently occupied.

“An existing Certificate of Lawfulness has been approved on this site. It is accepted that the unauthorised modular dwelling has been substantially complete in excess of five years, and that the time for any enforcement action has expired.

“Buildings of a temporary construction are not eligible for replacement. It is considered that the building to be replaced is of a temporary construction.

“The dwelling is characteristic of a prefab which is considered to be of temporary construction, as it can be just as easily removed from a site as it is placed there.”

The planning officer went on to acknowledge that a Certificate of Lawfulness, issued in relation to the structure, does refer to it as a ‘domestic dwelling’.

Aidan Begley, from Building Design Solutions, argued that his client’s temporary place was a real home, fully lived in, and that it had been recognised by the planning department as being a domestic dwelling in the past: “The applicant has lived at this location since June 2014, making this a permanent home for his young family.

“The applicant lived in a caravan on site from June 2014 until March 2017. Then he replaced the caravan with a modular home which has been his permanent home from March 2017 until present.

“Planning granted a Certificate of Lawfulness for the existing property, and the description was ‘domestic dwelling’.

“It does not seem logical that Planning are now refusing this proposal by saying there is no dwelling that warrants replacement, yet on January 31, 2024, Planning granted a CLEUD (Certificate of Lawful Existing Use of Development) for a domestic dwelling.

“The applicant wants to improve the building on site with a more energy-efficient building, which is what the Planning department should be encouraging.

“Not only would a new building be more energy-efficient, but it would be more visually pleasing, and more in keeping with the other dwellings in the locality.

“The Planning department granted a CLEUD for domestic dwelling on site, which allows the applicant to continue to live there for as long as he wants.

“Now, when he wants to improve the property, Planning are rejecting the proposal. So they are saying ‘You have permission to live at this location, but you cannot improve the domestic dwelling’.

“Surely, by the applicant wanting to build a more energy-efficient home, this warrants an exceptional case as it will bring both environmental and planning benefits.”

Sinn Fein Seán McPeake agreed with the agent: “It’s a strange scenario where a building of that nature can be lawful and stay there in perpetuity, and in the future fall foul in dilapidation and all of that, when surely a modest-sized dwelling would be more pleasing, and more satisfactory for the applicant.

“I’m sure the applicant doesn’t want to spend a pile of money on it when it’s temporary in nature.”

Service director of Planning, Karen Doyle explained there was a way forward that would allow committee members to approve a replacement dwelling: “I think what you could consider is the fact that there is a CLEUD on this site, and that CLEUD does describe it as a residential dwelling.

“Cllr McPeake is right, you wouldn’t be removing it for the sake of removing it if that’s where you live. You don’t want it to fall into a state of disrepair as there are people who are there.”

Sinn Fein Donna Mullin was strongly in favour of approving the request for a replacement dwelling: “The dwelling’s there and in the CLEUD it says that it is a dwelling, and for that reason I think that this should be approved because that dwelling is not going to go anywhere.

“They’re going to live in it and it would be better for the family to be in a dwelling that they can heat. It would be more renewable for us and the environment as well, rather than trying to heat a log cabin.”

Cllr Mullin’s proposal to approve a replacement dwelling was seconded by Cllr Deirdre Varsani, with the rest of the committee approving the decision.