The High Court has refused Ruden Homes permission to appeal a judgment which quashed planning approval for a Cork residential development after shortcomings were identified in the assessment of historic buildings on the site.
Mr Justice Richard Humphreys dismissed the developer's leave-to-appeal application on March 6. The underlying planning decision, made on June 3, 2022, had already been quashed by the High Court in May 2025.
The dispute centred on buildings including The Highlands dwelling house and associated structures. Cork County Council's archaeology officer had said the buildings were post-medieval heritage structures and required careful assessment under the county development plan before demolition.
The developer's archaeological assessment stated that the northern part of the site, including The Highlands and its outbuildings, had not been available for inspection. Evidence subsequently provided to the court established that access had not in fact been unavailable. Instead, no fresh site visit had taken place because of time constraints, and material from an earlier visit relating to a different application had been used.
The judge said the planning inspector and commission had not properly engaged with Objective HE 3-4 of the development plan, which required careful assessment of relevant industrial and post-medieval archaeology. He rejected the developer's contention that his earlier ruling imposed a general requirement for a full physical survey in every comparable planning application.
The proposed appeal questions therefore did not properly arise from the judgment and did not identify issues of exceptional public importance. The judge also noted that the relevant 2014 development plan had expired in June 2022 and had been replaced by substantially different wording.
The refusal means the High Court's order quashing the planning permission stands at this stage. The court awarded the applicant, Deirdre Condon, the costs of the leave application against Ruden Homes, unless the Supreme Court grants a direct or “leapfrog” appeal.