The High Court has awarded Cork County Council €1,208,880 against Valentine O’Driscoll for a landfill levy arising from waste deposited on his farm at Ballinderrig, Little Island, County Cork.
In a judgment delivered on 18 April 2018, Ms Justice Baker found that a waste permit issued to Mr O’Driscoll did not authorise the deposits because two essential conditions had not been met: planning permission was required, and there was no agreement with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) on the work at the environmentally sensitive site. The court held that the levy was therefore payable.
The council’s claim related to a levy notice served on 30 June 2008, which required payment within four weeks. The council sought the amount calculated under the landfill levy regulations. Interest was originally claimed but was no longer pursued by the time of judgment.
Mr O’Driscoll accepted that material had been deposited on the lands, but argued it was inert soil and stone placed to address flooding. The judge found the material was inert and mainly builders’ rubble and soil, but said that did not make the activity authorised. The permit, issued in January 2004 for two years, required compliance with statutory obligations and an agreement with the NPWS. The judge found that neither condition had been satisfied. Planning permission had not been granted, and a planning application to infill the lands had been refused in 2005.
Survey evidence comparing land levels in 2003 and 2007 put the deposited material at about 53,000 cubic metres, with approximately 42,000 cubic metres in Zone 1 and the remainder in Zone 2. The court accepted the survey methodology and found the defendant had not rebutted the statutory presumption supporting the council’s calculation. The judgment records that the council considered Zone 2 substantially remediated by July 2008, while material remained in Zone 1.
The judge rejected arguments that the claim was statute-barred or should be struck out for delay. She held that the statutory cause of action accrued when the levy notice was served, rather than when the waste was deposited. Although proceedings began in 2012, she found no demonstrated prejudice that made it unfair to require Mr O’Driscoll to defend the claim.
The case had first proceeded by summary summons. In 2014, Mr Justice Birmingham refused summary judgment and remitted it for a plenary hearing. Following that hearing, completed in December 2017, Ms Justice Baker concluded that no defence had been established and gave judgment to the council for the amount claimed.