The High Court has refused Liscannor Stone Limited leave to appeal a December 2020 judgment concerning its challenge to An Bord Pleanála’s decision on a quarry in County Clare.
In a judgment delivered on 14 April 2021, Ms Justice Miriam O’Regan considered the company’s application under section 50A(7) of the Planning and Development Act 2000. That provision requires a point of law of exceptional public importance and that an appeal be desirable in the public interest. The court said those requirements are cumulative and that the point must arise from its decision.
The company proposed nine questions in three groups. The first group concerned environmental impact assessment, the legal difference between a pre-1964 established use and pre-assessment planning permission, and whether the Board had to determine if the site had a genuine pre-1964 use. The judge said there was insufficient documentation to show that the quarry fell within its pre-1964 envelope, so the first question rested on circumstances not established in the case. She said the second had been answered by the judgment and no uncertainty in court decisions had been identified. The third did not arise from the judgment.
The company also argued that the December judgment amounted to “judgment by ambush” and breached fair procedures by effectively treating the quarry as unauthorised without giving it an opportunity to address that point. Justice O’Regan said the earlier judgment had made no finding that the quarry was unauthorised and had not raised or decided a question of the company’s standing to bring judicial review.
The second group included questions about standing and referral of EU law issues to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The judge said no standing issue had been raised in the earlier judgment. She also found no uncertainty about whether the High Court was required to make a reference, and said the proposed question would be advisory rather than necessary to resolve the proceedings.
The final group concerned whether quashing a review body’s decision could revive an underlying authority decision. Justice O’Regan said the earlier judgment had found An Bord Pleanála’s decision rational, reasoned and within its jurisdiction. The proposed questions about the consequences of quashing did not arise because that decision had not been quashed and was upheld.
The application for leave to appeal the 4 December 2020 decision was refused. The court did not grant an appeal certificate.