'Cromwell' accusation at council in disputeover land

An Athlone businessman who bought Dartmouth Square park in south Dublin for less than €10,800 last year has accused Dublin City Council of being "no different to Cromwell" in serving a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the land.

Noel O'Gara, of Ballinahowen, Athlone, told an An Bord Pleanála hearing on the CPO yesterday he believed the council was trying to steal his land and was using the planning authority to "rubber-stamp" the process.

If he was allowed to develop the land in his own way he would "probably build two high-rise blocks of luxury apartments with car parking under ground," he said.

The council's legal representatives said Mr O'Gara's remarks were untrue and offensive and he would have an opportunity to seek "full value" for the land under the CPO process.

Mr O'Gara bought the park at the centre of the Victorian square last December from PJ Darley, whose family originally developed the area in the 1880s. Last January Mr O'Gara padlocked the gates of the park. The locks were removed within days by residents who had believed it was a public park, but Mr O'Gara replaced the locks.

The council subsequently reopened the park and entered into negotiations with Mr O'Gara on making the space available to the public again.

These talks were unsuccessful and the council elected last February to place a CPO on the land.

The council had offered to buy the land from Mr Darley in 1987 for £8,500 (€10,800), but the deal was never completed and the council instead entered into a lease agreement which lapsed in 1997.

Mr O'Gara told The Irish Times that he paid less than the council's offer for the land, but he believes it is worth €170 million.

He told the planning hearing that the CPO was "grossly unconstitutional" and the council was abusing its statutory powers in trying to acquire the land.

"Dublin City Council is trying to use their big brother muscle to try and steal it from me . . . I affirm my right to develop my land my way and I'm not going to allow them to take it off me," he said.

He said he had given the council the opportunity to purchase it from him but they had failed to make any offers.

He was prepared to take legal action to defend his land he said.

The park was designated as a recreational amenity under the city development plan and was "a set piece of formal Victorian design of exceptional character," the council's senior executive planner Geraldine O'Mahoney told the hearing.

The southeast had less public open space per head of population than any other area of the city, she said.