The High Court upheld Galway City Council’s decision requiring quarry owner Michael O’Reilly to apply for planning permission and submit an environmental impact statement for his quarry at Anglinham, Menlo, near Lough Corrib.
In a judgment delivered on 26 March 2010, Mr Justice Charleton found the council had complied with section 261 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. He held the requirement was made within the statutory time limit and that an initial defect in notifying O’Reilly had been cured through later correspondence and his agent’s discovery of the council’s letter on the planning file.
The council’s decision, made on 11 October 2006, was challenged by O’Reilly in judicial review proceedings. He argued that the council had not followed the required sequence of steps and that the statutory requirements were mandatory. The council argued that it had substantially complied and that any error caused no actual prejudice.
The court first ruled that the challenge was in time and that the case was a final hearing. It found O’Reilly’s quarry registration was not complete until 14 October 2005, after the council had sought further information. The form initially submitted lacked, among other things, a map showing the extracted area and details of loading hours.
The council published a notice in the Galway Advertiser on 12 January 2006, inviting public observations and indicating it was considering requiring a planning application and environmental impact statement. A letter to O’Reilly dated 10 January had been wrongly addressed. His agent found it on the planning file in April and asked for an opportunity to respond. The council later allowed further time for submissions, but O’Reilly did not make submissions on the proposal.
Justice Charleton said the first notification did not strictly comply with the statutory procedure. In substance, however, the defect was cured after the agent discovered the letter and correspondence followed. The court concluded that the council’s 11 October 2006 decision was made within one year of registration, as required for the process under section 261(7).
The judgment records that part of the quarry site was within a candidate European site when the council made its decision, although the area was later de-listed, on 27 November 2006. The court assessed the decision based on the circumstances at the time it was made.
The court found the requirement to apply for permission and submit an environmental impact statement complied with section 261. It understood that the council would give O’Reilly a further nine months from the date of judgment to comply before making its final decision. The judgment did not determine the planning application itself.