O’Flynn can resubmit application for €70m development

The High Court yesterday confirmed that developer O'Flynn Capital Partners can resubmit its application for a €70 million housing development to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

The court ruled in August that the council's decision to refuse the company permission to build 164 new homes near Cabinteely, Co Dublin, was unlawful and allowed the developer to submit a fresh application.

Both sides returned to the court on Tuesday as the council argued that the original planning application should not be resubmitted on a number of technical grounds, including that it had to notify a number of other bodies.

The council was also seeking a 50 per cent reduction in costs as it successfully defended a number of issues at the original hearing.

However, the court rules that the council’s original decision should be quashed for the reasons given in August judgment that the planning application could be resubmitted to the council.

The court said that O'Flynn Capital Partners was entitled to all its costs. It also said that the council could notify certain bodies, such as Transport Infrastructure Ireland, to allow them make submissions on the planning application. It could also seek further information from the builder.

In August, Mr Justice Robert Haughton ruled that the council misconstrued and misapplied the terms of its own planning scheme. He said that it either had an improper motive for doing this or had taken irrelevant matters into consideration and failed to give adequate reasons for part of its decision.