The High Court found that Keegan Quarries Limited carried out serious breaches of planning conditions at a quarry on lands at Clegarrow and Rahinstown, County Meath. But in a judgment delivered on 28 October 2016, Mr Justice White did not make a final restoration order. He said the court would first appoint an expert to assess environmental screening and the practical options for restoring the site.
The proceedings were brought by Robert Henry Fowler under section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The original applicant, Jennifer Fowler, died in 2013; Robert Henry Fowler was appointed administrator ad litem and later became the applicant. The quarry had ceased operating, the company had surrendered its licence and it no longer occupied the lands. Restoration was the remaining relief sought.
The court found that the company breached conditions of its planning permission in fundamental ways. It excavated substantially below the water table, failed to monitor water levels as required, brought aggregate onto the site for the concrete batching plant, continued quarrying after permission expired, and extracted beyond the permitted area. Progressive restoration had not been carried out, and the court said the handling of topsoil and overburden left uncertainty about what material remained for restoration.
The company had been directed to seek substitute consent but did not apply by the extended deadline of 31 July 2014. The court held that the development therefore remained unauthorised and declined to refer the matter back to An Bord Pleanála for another extension. It also rejected the company’s argument that delay or acquiescence should prevent relief, finding the breaches serious and deliberate. However, the court did not determine disputed extraction volumes or whether the company breached an undertaking to stop digging, as those issues could affect separate plenary proceedings.
The experts agreed on several elements of restoration, including stabilising slopes, removing remaining structures and debris, improving drainage, reseeding pasture and restoring hedgerows. They disagreed over whether the water bodies should be filled and how much soil would need to be imported. The judge said lakes 3 and 4 appeared likely to be filled, while the feasibility of filling lakes 1 and 2 remained open. That was a provisional view, subject to the court-appointed expert’s advice.
The expert is to prepare a screening assessment concerning possible pollution affecting the River Boyne and Blackwater protected site, and advise on filling the lakes, soil and organic material, and other restoration matters. The respondent is to bear the report’s preparation cost, with any cost for the expert’s evidence to be decided later. The court said detailed directions and final orders would follow further submissions. Meath County Council retains its separate enforcement powers; it was not a party to the case.