The High Court has quashed An Bord Pleanála’s refusal of a proposed improvement to the N86 between Tralee and An Daingean, finding that the Board failed to consider the needs of cyclists and pedestrians.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton ruled on 11 April 2014 that the Board had to consider whether Kerry County Council, as the road authority, had met its statutory duty to consider all road users when formulating the scheme. The Board also had to have regard to relevant policies and objectives of public bodies. The court found no evidence that those considerations played a part in the Board’s decision or its earlier request that cycleways be removed from the proposal.
The council had sought judicial review of the Board’s 4 September 2013 decision to refuse approval. The proposed scheme would widen and straighten a 28-kilometre stretch of road. The Board accepted that the route needed upgrading, but said the proposal’s road and construction widths would cause excessive landscape intervention and harm the area’s visual amenities, character and tourism value. Its refusal followed a 3-2 vote.
The council argued, among other points, that the Board had failed to account for cyclists and pedestrians and had relied on improper or inadequate decision-making procedures. The court rejected the challenge to the Board’s reconstructed written reasons and found that a Board member’s road trip to observe the area did not breach procedural fairness. It said the other arguments were unnecessary to its decision. The judge also said it was not legally tenable to require approval on condition that an alternative greenway be built, a function assigned to the local roads authority.
The ruling did not approve the road scheme or require a particular design. It quashed the refusal and remitted the matter to An Bord Pleanála. Neither party sought leave to appeal or costs.