The High Court directed Wicklow County Council to complete biodiversity surveys by 17 December 2021 as part of the continuing remediation process for a waste dumping site in Whitestown, Co Wicklow.
In a judgment delivered on 30 September 2021, Mr Justice Humphreys gave reasons for directions made on 29 July. The court also ordered that the case be listed for mention on 11 October 2021 so the parties could consider whether the council’s proposed later steps and timelines were acceptable. If they were not, the court said a hearing date should be fixed to finalise them.
The surveys are required to prepare a Natura Impact Statement after a ministerial direction on 15 March 2021. At the time of the judgment, the case was at step five of a 15-step remediation process set out in an earlier order: circulation of a draft remediation plan.
The council’s proposed timetable included an ecological impact assessment, revisions to the draft plan, submission and review of the Natura Impact Statement, public consultation and preparation of a final plan. The judge made no order fixing those later dates in this judgment. He said Brownfield Restoration Ireland Ltd needed an opportunity to consider whether it objected to the proposed steps.
The proceedings concern illegal dumping at Whitestown that the judgment said began in 1979. Wicklow County Council started proceedings in 2005 seeking remediation. Brownfield, described by the court as the current owners, began separate enforcement proceedings against the council in 2008, which later also encompassed complaints about the council’s remediation efforts.
A 2017 order directed remediation and set a final date of 19 January 2024 for full remediation and handover. The judge said that deadline remained binding, subject to circumstances. The July 2021 directions addressed the next stage of implementation; they did not determine whether the final deadline had been met or change it.