The High Court has approved parts of Wicklow County Council’s remediation plan for the Whitestown waste site, while leaving unresolved whether further material must be removed from parts of the site. The court said the plan’s new deadlines did not displace the existing long-stop date of 19 January 2024, and reserved the parties’ right to apply if the site remained unremediated after that date.
The judgment is the fifteenth decision in litigation over illegal dumping at the site. The current proceedings were brought by Brownfield Restoration Ireland Limited, the landowner, against the council. Humphreys J. said the court’s immediate task was to consider approval of the council’s draft plan under an earlier order requiring full remediation.
The court approved the plan insofar as it provides for removing waste and contaminated or potentially contaminated soil from Zones A to C. That approval is without prejudice to the possibility of ordering more extensive removal later. By the time the approved work in those zones is complete, the council must obtain the landowner’s agreement that the orders have been complied with, acquire the land to avoid its transfer to the landowner, or use an independent expert to review compliance. The parties are to agree the expert or, failing agreement, the court will appoint one; the council must pay the cost.
The court did not approve the plan’s proposal to remove nothing from Zones D to G. The judge said the council’s risk assessment did not adequately account for the existing court orders. The judgment noted evidence that some areas were “largely” free of waste, and that minor construction and demolition waste had been found in trial pits. The council must return with proposals on whether further removal is required. If it proposes no removal in Zones D to G, it must first secure the landowner’s agreement, acquire the land, or obtain an independent expert review on the same terms.
Proposals for using material already on site as infill were also adjourned pending a later application. The council must return with proposals for completing remediation, infill and landscaping, and an environmental impact assessment process for works other than waste and contaminated-soil removal.
The court approved the ecological works and the proposed finished profile and use: calcareous and neutral grassland with scrub and wetland habitats, suitable for low-intensity grazing and conservation. It accepted the council’s appropriate assessment for the works approved in this order, while directing the council to return for further directions if a later change could affect a European site.
The amended timetable runs to 56 months for subsequent steps, including a 12-month monitoring period. The deadlines are now binding, subject to the existing long-stop date. The court directed that the case be listed for mention on 2 October 2023 to check implementation. Costs were reserved, subject to submissions within seven days.