The High Court has dismissed a challenge to planning permission for a 24-metre telecommunications mast at Laghta, near Kinlough in Co Leitrim.
Mr Justice Humphreys ruled on December 17 that Noel McGowan and Karol Warnock had not established grounds to quash An Coimisiún Pleanála's February 2025 decision granting permission to Vantage Towers Limited for the lattice structure, antennae, dishes, security fencing and a new access track.
Leitrim County Council had originally refused permission in April 2023. A later grant by the planning appeals body was quashed by consent in separate judicial review proceedings after the commission accepted that material from the council had not been taken into account. Following reconsideration, an inspector recommended refusal in December 2024, but the commission again granted permission on February 14, 2025.
The applicants challenged that decision on several grounds. They argued, among other things, that the commission had not properly applied guidance treating free-standing masts near smaller towns as a last resort, had inadequately considered alternatives and visual effects, had failed to deal lawfully with health concerns and had wrongly concluded that environmental impact assessment was not required.
The court rejected those arguments. It found that alternative locations had been considered in substance, that the commission was entitled to differ from its inspector on visual impact and that the applicants had not shown its planning judgment to be irrational or unlawful.
On health concerns, the court held that the commission could generally rely on established telecommunications standards and the separate regulatory regime, absent specific evidence requiring a different approach.
The court also found that the single mast, located outside Kinlough's development envelope in a rural setting, did not plausibly constitute an "urban development" project requiring environmental impact assessment. A further habitats challenge failed because decommissioning impacts had in fact been considered.
The proceedings were dismissed. The judgment proposed no order as to costs unless a party applied otherwise, with final procedural matters listed for January 12, 2026.