Refusal to grant planning permission for Navan development to be challenged

An Bord Pleanála's refusal to grant planning permission for a nine-screen cinema, cafe and several retail units in Navan, Co Meath, is to be challenged in the High Court. Developers Navan Co-Ownership secured permission from Meath County Council last March for the development, which also includes a car park, on a 1.58 hectare site adjacent to Dan Shaw Road, just south of Navan pitch and putt club.

That decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála, which, on July 30th, overturned planning permission for the development. The refusal, which it is claimed is based on a report from an inspector with the board, was on grounds that the proposed development was premature, remote from the town centre and conflicted with the Navan Town Development Plan.

The developer has challenged the planning authority’s refusal which, it claims, is based on an error of law.

In a judicial review challenge to An Bord Pleanála, Navan Co-Ownership, seeks a number of orders and declarations quashing the refusal and remitting it to the board for reconsideration.

Declan McGrath SC, for Navan Co-Ownership, told the High Court on Friday that the board “erred in law” because it had misinterpreted Meath County Council’s Development Plan for Navan.

Mr McGrath said th board inspector had linked the development of the lands to a proposal to build a central rail station, linking Navan with Dublin, in the vicinity of the cinema/retail complex. He said there was no certainty the rail station would be delivered nor had any time frame been set for such a project. There was no provision in the Navan Development Plan that any development at the site was contingent on the delivery of a rail station.

According to the development plan, the lands, the subject of the application, had been designated for the expansion of Navan town centre. The proposed development would create a new attraction in the town.

Mr McGrath said Navan Co-Ownership, which was a partnership, had acquired more than eight hectares some years ago. On one part of the site, it had obtained planning permission for a shopping centre which had not been developed. It proposed to build the cinema complex and retail units on another part of the site.

Mr Justice Robert Eagar granted Navan Co-Ownership leave to challenge the board's decision and put the matter back to November.