Intel requests dismissal of ‘vexatious’ appeal by farmer to its Leixlip expansion

Intel Ireland has requested An Bord Pleanála (ABP) to exercise rarely-used powers to dismiss what it claims is the "vexatious" appeal by a local farmer, Thomas Reid, against a its planned $4 billion (€3.6 billion) investment in Leixlip.

Intel Ireland has requested ABP to invoke section 138 of the Planning and Development Act where the board can dismiss appeals if it finds that it is vexatious, frivolous or without substance or foundation.

Kildare County Council gave the Intel project the go-ahead in May but Mr Reid is trying to stop the project from proceeding.

Mr Reid of Hedsor House, Blakestown, Carton, Maynooth has long been a thorn in the side of the US multinational in the planning arena and this is the seventh Intel application he has brought before ABP since 2012.

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The permission follows three years on after Intel secured planning for the first phase of the fab facility valued at $4 billion – which was also opposed by Mr Reid.

Investment

In total, the two planning permissions represent an $8 billion (€7.1 billion) investment that will employ 6,000 construction workers at peak, and provide 1,600 full-time jobs on completion.

The projects represent the largest single private investment in the history of the State. Intel has already invested $12.5 billion (€11.1 billion) on its site at Leixlip.

In Mr Reid’s five-page hand-written appeal, he claims that the proposal is contrary to the proper planning and development of the area and has requested an oral hearing.

Last year, Mr Reid was subject of a documentary over his successful Supreme Court battle with the IDA concerning the use of compulsory purchase order (CPO) powers.

In 2015, Mr Reid emerged victorious in his battle with the IDA after the Supreme Court found that the IDA making of a CPO for Mr Reid’s 29 hectare (72 acre) farm adjacent to the Intel campus had been in excess of the agency’s powers.

A decision is due on the Intel case in October.