Irish family told bespoke bike shed is "visual clutter" and must be removed as it would "set an undesirable precedent"

A family in Ireland has lost its appeal and faces needing to remove a bike shed from the driveway of their home, the council claiming that the bespoke storage unit "would conflict with the existing pattern of development in the area" and constitutes "visual clutter" that "would set an undesirable precedent".

In a series of planning documents and appeals on An Bord Pleanála's website, first reported by the Irish Examiner, it is revealed that Denis O'Regan and his family were denied retention permission for a 5.3sq m timber-clad structure that would be used to store bicycles and bins on the driveway of their home in Ballintemple, Cork.

Mr O'Regan believed the decision was in contrary to rulings in similar cases and argued the "bespoke" structure was in line with planning requirements and would promote sustainable active travel by providing his family a secure and accessible place to store several bicycles, including an electric cargo bike.

> Cyclist threatened with €13 million fine and two years in prison over bike shed, forcing her to give up cycling

"Storing bikes in an easy-to-reach secure location helps to encourage adults and children to cycle more often," he said, pointing out the design was made to fit in with the recent extension to the property and was actually installed to reduce what the council called "visual clutter", allowing them a storage unit to keep bins and bikes without impacting off-street parking.

He also suggested the council should be promoting use of bike storage units if it wants to meet commitments and targets on sustainable development.

However, the planning inspector called it a "highly visible standalone structure" and expressed concerns that the reduced driveway space would cause "diminishment" of road safety if cars had to be parked on the road as a result.

Cork City Council deemed it "visual clutter", a "disorderly form of development", and did not take Mr O'Regan up on his offer to install screening to alter how it looked, instead noting that usually structures of that nature were only permitted behind houses.

The planning authority An Bord Pleanála rejected the family's appeal and argued it would "conflict with the existing pattern of development in the area" and be "visually incongruous and would set an undesirable precedent in the area".

In February, we reported that a Dublin cyclist had been threatened with a €13 million fine and two years in prison over a bike shed dispute, the council's threats over an "unauthorised development" forcing her to give up cycling.

Siobhán Kelly, a resident of Clontarf, a coastal suburb north of Dublin, said she was "flabbergasted, upset, and scared" after receiving a letter from Dublin City Council outlining the situation.

"At the end of our road, there's a €65 million cycle lane being built, and we can't use it. There's no point building all this infrastructure when you can't park a bike on your own property. There are two people now not on bikes because of this folly," she told us.

We've also seen similar cases in the UK too, perhaps the most famous, dubbed 'Shedgate' by locals, seeing a family in Leicester force the city's mayor to admit planning officers "got it wrong" when they were told to remove a homemade eco bike shed from their front garden, the structure apparently not in keeping with the Victorian character of the street. Following much support in the community and press it was soon announced the bike shed could stay.

In November, we reported that a homeowner who installed a wooden bike shed outside his one-bedroom property in a Grade II listed former workhouse in Ironbridge, near Telford, would not be allowed to keep the "very modest" storage facility after the council and a planning inspector objected to the structure, claiming it would "lead to a harmful cumulative change to the listed building".

There is some hope however (at least on this side of the Irish Sea), after the former Conservative government in March launched an open consultation on proposed changes that could relax restrictions on planning and development rights,  including providing "further flexibilities to permit bike stores in front gardens".

> Are bike shed planning sagas set to become a thing of the past?

It remains to be seen how, if at all, the formation of the new Labour government impacts this but the proposed changes, which would only apply to England, suggested households could be allowed to "enlarge their homes, make alterations or extensions to the roof, and construct buildings incidental to the enjoyment of the main house, such as bin and bike stores" as part of a swathe of planned amendments to planning laws.