Property owners lose challenge over new Croke Park access route

Four people who own properties near Croke Park have failed in their High Court bid to overturn a decision clearing the way for development of a new route to and from the stadium.

Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington, in a judgment on Friday, dismissed the challenge over Dublin City Council's planned development in the area of Croke Villas, Ardilaun Square, Ardilaun Road, Sackville Avenue and Sackville Gardens.

It is part of the council’s plan for redevelopment and regeneration of the area.

The challenge was initiated in 2018 by Kim Griffin, a part-time tutor, of Ardilaun Square, Ballybough and Tony Henry, a landlord and property manager living at No 2 Sackville Gardens, who also owns No 3 and part-owns No 4 Sackville Gardens, and manages individually let properties within all three.

Noel Kelly, the third applicant, is a landlord living at Fernhill, Thornamby Road, Howth, who co-owns No 4 Sackville Gardens with Mr Henry.

Concerns

Philip Hughes, the fourth applicant, is a retired construction worker living at Churchfield Lawns, Skerries, who owns No 6 Sackville Gardens and says he is directly affected in the same way.

The court was told the owner of No 5 Sackville Gardens had similar concerns about the development.

In their action, the applicants said they were very concerned about the impact of the development on their properties at Ardilaun Square and Sackville Gardens. They said they support regeneration of the area but claimed planning and traffic issues had not been properly assessed.

They sought orders quashing the December 4th, 2017, decision of the council’s elected members approving the development and quashing the November 23rd 2017 report of the council’s chief executive recommending approval.

In her judgment, delivered electronically, Ms Justice Pilkington noted Sackville Gardens ia a small cul de sac of six late Victorian houses, built around 1850, with very little through traffic.

The development involved construction of 61 new apartments, served by an underground car park accessed by a new laneway to be constructed off Sackville Avenue, running behind the residential properties of Sackville Gardens.

The proposal was also for the main spectator route to and from Croke Park to be on Sackville Avenue, running from the junction with Ballybough Road to the stadium. It was proposed there would be an extension of Sackville Gardens as far as Ardilaun Square with retractable bollards installed for pedestrian access only, except on event days when the route linking Sackville Gardens with Ardilaun Road would be the designated emergency vehicle access route.

Additional traffic

Having examined the evidence and law, the judge said the issues raised by the applicants were dealt with in the overall context of the chief executive’s “very comprehensive” report and she was satisfied the issues were fairly and properly considered.

She did not see any requirement to "exhaustively" examine issues concerning the impact of additional traffic within Sackville Gardens. Deferring that matter to the GAA and An Garda Síochána did not amount to a "derogation or abrogation of duty" but was an "appropriate decision" in light of their ongoing experience dealing with traffic and other matters, specifically on event days at the stadium, she said.

She agreed with the council that a “project splitting” argument could not be used by the applicants in support of their claim of failure to carry out a proper screening assessment of the proposed development.

She accepted the appropriate screening procedure was considered and the decision that an Environmental Impact Assessment of the disputed development was not required was properly arrived at.

Costs issues will be addressed later after the sides have considered the judgment.