We've just shipped the biggest update to PlanWatch since we launched — a rebuilt, faster search that's open to everyone. Here's what's new.
Search is the whole site now
The new PlanWatch is a single search box that reaches every planning application in every one of Ireland's 31 local authorities.
Start typing an address, a planning reference, an architect, or an agent, and results appear as you go. Move between Applications, Appeals, Architects & agents, and Authorities without losing your place, and narrow things with filters for authority, development type, decision, and time period — the counts update to match, so you never click into an empty result. Under the hood, it's a lot faster.
"Near me" — planning around a place you care about
Tap Near me, drop a pin (or use your location), and see everything lodged within a radius you choose. It's the quickest way to keep an eye on your own street, a site you're watching, or an area you work in.
Free and open to search
You no longer need an account to search — look up any application, browse any authority, check any agent's track record. We think the facts of the planning system should be easy for anyone to get at. Alerts and the deeper professional tools are there when you want them.
The appeals are connected
When an application goes to An Coimisiún Pleanála, we now link the appeal back to the original permission — so you can follow a case all the way through, from lodging to decision to appeal outcome, in one place.
A plan for homeowners
We've added a plan built specifically for homeowners: a quiet heads-up when something's proposed near you, without the professional toolkit you don't need. It sits alongside our plans for people who watch planning more closely and the professionals who work in it every day.
That's the update. Open planwatch.ie, run a search for your own address, and see what's happening near you — no sign-up needed.
As always, if something looks wrong in the data, tell us — every correction makes the whole thing better.