A BUSINESSMAN told the High Court yesterday he had paid more than £200,000 for lands which include a sand and gravel pit which Kildare County Council is trying to stop him using.
The council wants an order restraining the extraction of sand and gravel from the pit at Broadleas, Ballymore Eustace, near the popular Golden Falls amenity area.
It has taken the case against Mr Thomas G. Goode, Castlewarden, Straffan; his wife, Ms Teresa Goode; and Goode Concrete Ltd, which is involved in the sand and gravel business and has a concrete block production plant in Naas.
Mr Justice Morris was told by a lawyer for Kildare Co Council that a large number of complaints against the unauthorised use of the pit had come from people living in the locality. Those people claimed the work was seriously interfering with amenities.
The defence submits the works carried out at Broadleas do not differ in any respect from the works carried on there since 1949. Mr Goode told the court he saw a newspaper advertisement offering the lands for sale in 1991. It said the lands were top quality and suitable for all farming enterprises and were reported to have a substantial deposit of sand and gravel.
He agreed with Mr David Byrne SC, for the council, it was a matter for the purchaser to satisfy himself that the lands contained sand and gravel. He did so.
Mr Goode said the purchase price for the total of 57 acres was £205,000 about £3,500 an acre. Agricultural land at the time was going for about £2,000 an acre. The existing sand and gravel pit was of about 2.5 acres.
He agreed that under the "County Development Plan, it was intended to develop the area as high amenity and that the lands were not included as an area for sand and gravel extraction.
The hearing is continuing.