The High Court has ordered Wave Point Limited to file a construction management plan for its planned hotel development at Great Ship Street, Dublin 2, by 31 January 2019, after finding that work at the site was unauthorised because required planning conditions had not been met before work began.
In a judgment delivered on 20 December 2018, Ms Justice Tara Burns found that the planning permission required specified documents to be submitted to and agreed with the planning authority before development commenced. The works included demolition and archaeological investigations, and the permission treated these as part of the development rather than as a separate preliminary phase.
Wave Point began work on 5 June 2018. Its neighbour, Luxor Investments Limited, brought proceedings alleging trespass and nuisance from noise and dust, and sought an injunction. At the hearing, however, Luxor’s remaining request under section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 was for an order requiring a construction management plan.
The court rejected Wave Point’s argument that it could not submit a plan before serving a building regulations commencement notice, and its arguments that the project’s phased approach and the need to complete archaeological investigations justified postponing the plan. The judge said the permission clearly required the plan before work began and covered demolition and archaeological work within the permitted development.
Several other required documents were submitted after work started. By the hearing, the outstanding condition was the construction management plan required under paragraph 7 of the permission. A plan covering enabling works had been submitted, but the planning authority had noted that it covered only those works.
The judge found the development unauthorised and ordered Wave Point to file a construction management plan by 31 January 2019, to ensure compliance with the permission. The court did not decide Luxor’s separate allegations of trespass and nuisance. Those allegations were relevant to Luxor’s interest in bringing the section 160 application, the judge said, and did not form the basis of an order restricting such conduct. Luxor had also instituted separate plenary proceedings over those claims.
No order for costs was made. The judge cited the limited order ultimately sought, Wave Point’s later compliance with all but one condition, its stated intention to comply, the industry practice of phased compliance described in evidence, and the planning authority’s approach.