The High Court has admitted a challenge to emergency flood-relief works at a bridge on the N59 in Kylemore, Connemara, to its Commercial Planning and Strategic Infrastructure Development List. The decision concerns where the case will be managed; it does not decide whether the works were lawful.
Friends of the Irish Environment CLG brought the judicial review against Galway County Council, Ireland and the Attorney General. The statement of grounds was filed on 12 October 2022. The judgment records that leave to bring the proceedings had not yet been granted.
The works involved removing sediment and other material around a concrete bridge and culvert at the Polladirk River. The council considered the removal necessary to avoid flooding. A consultant report was prepared in June 2022 and a method statement in July. The council’s works were apparently completed on 12 August 2022.
The applicant sought to have the case transferred to the specialist list under the court rules for statutory appeals and judicial reviews considered suitable because of their commercial or other aspects. Galway County Council opposed the motion. The State respondents took a neutral position.
The council argued, among other points, that the contract was worth about €85,000, below the €1 million threshold cited in the rules, and that the works had already been completed. The judge said the threshold did not have to be met where proceedings were otherwise appropriate for the list. He also noted that the applicant sought possible remediation relief, which could involve further works if its case were later made out.
The court accepted that the case raised issues with wider relevance to public infrastructure and could benefit from specialist case management. It granted the motion to admit the case. The applicant must amend its statement of grounds to comply with the list’s format requirements, but the amendment cannot substantively expand the case without the court’s express permission. The matter is to be listed on a date to be notified by the List Registrar, and the amended statement must be filed one week beforehand.
The judgment did not determine the applicant’s claims about planning, environmental or habitats law, order remediation, or grant the substantive reliefs sought in the judicial review.