The High Court has quashed planning permission for a 112-home development at Ballynaroon, Glounthaune, Co Cork, after finding that historic buildings on the site should have been properly assessed before An Bord Pleanála decided they could be demolished.
Ruden Homes Limited had secured permission in June 2022 for 72 houses, 40 apartments and associated works under the now-repealed strategic housing development process.
The challenge was brought by Deirdre Condon. A central issue concerned Highlands House and associated buildings which appeared on Ordnance Survey mapping from the 1840s.
Cork County Council’s conservation assessment had criticised the absence of a proper examination of the buildings and recommended that development in that part of the site be omitted until their historical significance and structural condition were assessed.
The board’s inspector disagreed. The inspector noted that the buildings were neither protected structures nor listed on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, considered them heavily modified, and recommended that a survey could instead be carried out before demolition. Permission was granted subject to such a condition.
Mr Justice Humphreys held that this approach misunderstood the 2014 Cork County Development Plan. Its archaeological heritage provisions applied beyond buildings already included on protected-structure lists and envisaged meaningful assessment before a decision was made on demolition.
The judge rejected the board’s argument that wording saying buildings “should” be assessed allowed the survey to be postponed until after planning permission. He found that such an interpretation would defeat the purpose of the plan because any discovery capable of affecting the decision would come too late.
The ruling means the June 2022 permission is quashed. The court did not need to decide the applicant’s other main grounds, including separate issues concerning housing policy, childcare provisions or the environmental impact assessment arguments.
A provisional costs order was proposed in Condon’s favour against An Bord Pleanála, subject to submissions and specified deductions for earlier procedural defaults.