The High Court has dismissed Manley Construction Limited’s judicial review challenge to the refusal of permission for 142 homes at The Spires, Duleek, finding that the land’s Phase II designation barred residential development during the life of the applicable development plan.
An Bord Pleanála refused the strategic housing development application in March 2021. Its order said the site was zoned A2 in the Meath County Development Plan 2013–2019, as varied, but was also identified as “Phase II” land and unavailable for residential development during the plan period. The Board concluded that section 9(6)(b) of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 precluded it from granting permission because the proposal would materially contravene the plan in relation to land zoning.
Manley argued that the phasing designation concerned development priority, not zoning, and that the Board should have assessed the application on its planning merits. It also argued that the outcome in Highlands Residents, a 2020 High Court case involving similarly worded provisions for Drogheda, should not govern the Duleek site. The Board relied on that decision.
Mr Justice David Holland found that the relevant wording in the Duleek Written Statement matched the wording considered in Highlands Residents. He said both documents formed part of the same county plan variation and reflected a common strategy to limit the release of residential land to the amount required by housing allocations. He found no sufficient basis to distinguish the earlier decision or depart from it.
The court rejected Manley’s arguments that an alleged housing shortfall in Duleek, the application’s submission after 2019, or the plan’s extension altered the site’s status. The judge said the plan had not been varied to release the Phase II land and that its extension did not automatically change its substantive zoning provisions. He also rejected arguments based on the Board’s pre-application opinion and estoppel, observing that the opinion did not prevent reconsideration at the formal decision stage.
The judge dismissed the judicial review application. He also rejected challenges concerning environmental assessment and appropriate assessment, finding that those assessments could not override a statutory bar on granting permission. The court listed the matter for mention on 4 April 2021 with a view to making final orders; the judgment does not record those final orders.