A planning officer's report recommending rejection of permission for the River Court Hotel in Kilkenny was not given to a Bord Pleanala inspector at an oral hearing into the development, The Irish Times has established.
The inspector, Mr Bernard Muckley, was not told about the report even though he asked Kilkenny Corporation's senior executive engineer, Mr Joe Gannon, if there had been any planning or architectural input into the corporation's deliberations.
In his report of the hearing, in April 1996, the inspector said Mr Gannon "confirmed that Mr Patrick Shaffrey, architect and planning consultant, was consulted but stated that there was no written report from him." Mr Gannon said Mr Shaffrey had expressed no reservations about the hotel proposal.
Mr Muckley was not told at this hearing that the corporation had requested and received a report from a planning officer with Kilkenny County Council, Ms Katharine Larkin, which recommended rejection of the application. Ms Larkin, who no longer works for the council, confirmed the existence of the report to The Irish Times, but said further questions should be directed to the corporation.
In response to questions about the matter, the corporation said in a statement: "Copies of all reports on the planning file were sent to An Bord Pleanala." Ms Larkin's report, however, could not be found on the planning file.
An examination of the index to Mr Muckley's report did not list Ms Larkin's document. Contacted by The Irish Times, Mr Gannon said "Good luck" and put down the phone.
Mr Muckley did, in any event, recommend rejection of the development following the oral hearing, and his view was ratified by the Bord. However, the grounds cited, design and scale, left the door open for the developer, Majanwood Ltd, to apply a second time. Permission was finally granted by An Bord Pleanala in June 1997.
Chris Dooley can be contacted at cdooley@irish-times.ie
