Tidy Towns group blocks new housing development

A DUBLIN Tidy Towns group with a long history of litigation has won a High Court order overturning planning permission for a 131-unit development.

Judge Richard Humphreys noted that it was the fifth set of proceedings by the Ballyboden Tidy Towns to reach a written judgement, while the courts service records seven judicial reviews instituted by the group since November 2020.

The south Dublin group describes itself as a ‘bunch of litter pickers’, ‘dedicated to sustainable planning and development’ and the strong protection of the natural and built environment in the Ballyboden area, at the foot of the Dublin Mountains.

The development at the heart of its latest case would see 108 apartments, two duplexes and 21 houses built in Rathfarnham on Stocking Lane by developer MacCabe Durney Barnes Ltd. The developer was a notice party to the group’s legal challenge against the permission granted by An Bord Pleanála in early 2022.

When the development was first proposed, it prompted 49 submissions, with Ballyboden Tidy Towns, residents’ associations and politicians voicing their opposition. Their objections included concerns about the height and density of the scheme, and the potential impact on traffic in the locality.

However, An Bord Pleanála ruled that it would constitute an acceptable residential density at the site. Judge Humphreys said that 11 or the 12 core challenges raised by the group in its legal challenge were either being dismissed by him, withdrawn, or were not necessary to decide.

However, he upheld core ground three, in which it was alleged that the developer had not demonstrated that the site would be well served by public transport, as the guidelines required.

‘Here the board admitted that the information from the developer was “not great”,’ the judge said.

Judge Humphreys also noted that the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) process, in which applications for more than 100 residential units went straight to the planning board in a bid to fast track planning, has now ceased.

He ordered that the planning permission be quashed, and has listed the case to be mentioned again on March 4, when he said he was minded to order An Bord Pleanála to pay the legal costs incurred by the tidy towns group.

Angela O’Donoghue, director of Ballyboden Tidy Towns, said the group was studying the judgement, but added that its members were delighted to have won.

She acknowledged that a balance must be struck to allow some new construction projects but she said: ‘What we want to see is sustainable housing development, that protects the environment and is compliant with the law.’