The High Court has refused to halt construction of a 255-house development at Delgany Woods in Co Wicklow, despite ruling that a planning condition required a nearby bypass road to be operational before the final 130 homes could be built.
Altara Developments Limited and its director Peter Crossan sought an order stopping developer Ventola Limited from continuing construction at the site between Delgany and Killincarrig, Greystones.
The dispute centred on a condition attached by An Bord Pleanála to planning permission granted in June 2000. It allowed an initial 50 houses once specified road improvements had advanced, and up to 125 when work was underway on the Greystones Southern Access Route. The remaining houses could not be constructed until the Delgany Bypass Road had been “commissioned”.
Wicklow County Council served an enforcement notice in October 2003 directing Ventola to stop work on houses above the 125-house limit. Ventola subsequently entered an agreement with the council in November 2004 aimed at completing the remaining section of the bypass, including arrangements for acquiring third-party land.
Mr Justice O’Sullivan rejected Ventola’s argument that the road had been “commissioned” once legal and contractual arrangements for its construction were in place. He held that, read objectively and in the context of traffic safety, the word meant that the bypass had become operational.
That finding did not, however, result in an injunction.
The court noted that Ventola had sought specialist advice, negotiated with the council following the enforcement notice and had continued construction with the planning authority’s support and in a reasonably held belief that it was complying with the permission.
O’Sullivan J also considered the practical impact of stopping work. Twenty-six house sales worth more than €11 million were then due to close, further sales exceeding €20 million were expected over six months, 33 site jobs were said to be at risk and purchasers could suffer disruption.
The court therefore declined to make any order curtailing construction.