Court challenge to permission for 165 homes in Enniskerry resolved

A High Court challenge to permission for 165 homes in the village of Enniskerry, in Co Wicklow, has been settled.

Mr Justice Richard Humphreys was told this week that the case has been resolved and did not require further legal costs orders.

The judge struck out the action on the application of James Devlin SC, instructed by FP Logue Solicitors, for the applicants, with consent from An Bord Pleanála. No further details of the resolution were provided to the court.

The judicial review was initiated in October 2021 by local interest group Enniskerry Alliance and the manager of a neighbouring housing complex, Enniskerry Demesne Management CLG.

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They alleged the proposed scheme, comprising housing and duplex apartments, represented a “serious overdevelopment” of the site off Cookstown Road. They claimed it materially contravened local zoning objectives and density guidelines.

The planning application had been fast-tracked to An Bord Pleanála under a now-expired mechanism for strategic housing developments of at least 100 homes.

The judicial review applicants alleged An Bord Pleanála erred factually in describing Enniskerry village as an “urban centre close to public transport and centres of employment”, they further alleged, conversely, a rural village that is very poorly serviced by public transport.

Other grounds of challenge included alleged breaches of EU law concerning protection of habitats.

An element of the case, related to the applicants’ entitlement to be protected from having to pay the other side’s costs if they were to lose, was in 2022 heading for determination by the Supreme Court. However, the appeal did not proceed as that issue was determined by the top court in a separate decision given in November that year.

The substantive case remained for determination by the High Court before it resolved without the need for a hearing.

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