The High Court has dismissed most of a judicial review challenging planning permission for a wind farm in County Clare, while declaring that An Bord Pleanála failed to publish 39 documents required by law.
In a judgment delivered on 20 May 2024, Mr Justice Humphreys found that documents numbered 24 to 62 in the judgment’s table were part of the statutory planning process and should have appeared on the board’s website. The documents included responses to requests for further information, submissions from members of the public and notification letters about the decision not to hold an oral hearing.
The court said the publication duty covered documents that formed part of the statutory process, whether created by the board or submitted by others. It did not extend to invalid submissions, purely administrative correspondence or internal board memoranda.
The applicants had argued that the board’s failure to publish the material prejudiced their ability to examine the decision. The judge said they had not shown they were sufficiently disadvantaged to justify quashing the permission, particularly because the failures occurred after the decision. He nevertheless considered a declaration appropriate to encourage compliance with publication requirements.
The challenge concerned permission granted in September 2022 for a wind farm proposed by Coillte and now associated with FuturEnergy Carrownagowan DAC. The approved project includes 19 turbines, associated roads and infrastructure, and works across townlands in County Clare.
The applicants also challenged the board’s environmental assessment, its expertise, and the process for determining that the project was strategic infrastructure. The judge rejected those grounds. He found the applicants had not produced evidence establishing that the board lacked expertise or that its environmental impact assessment was inadequate.
The judgment did identify an error in the appropriate-assessment screening: the screening materials said there was no hydrological connection to Lough Derg, although part of the site drains towards it through Lough O’Grady. However, the court accepted unchallenged expert evidence that the limited works in that part of the site would not create a significant effect on the European site. The applicants had not countered that evidence by affidavit or cross-examination. The court therefore treated the error as immaterial to the outcome.
The order provides for a declaration about the 39 unpublished documents, subject to written submissions on its wording. The proceedings were otherwise dismissed. Unless a party makes further submissions, the applicants are to receive costs from An Bord Pleanála limited to what they would have incurred had they pursued only the publication issue. The matter was listed for 10 June 2024 to confirm the order.