Ballyshannon decision has 'lifted a weight'

Members of Ballyshannon Action Group at their AGM last week.

A weight has been lifted from the shoulders of a whole community with the news early this week of the quashing by the High Court of a planning permission for a quarry in Ballyshannon, writes Brian Byrne. While the technicalities of the judicial review are still working their way through the system, Ballyshannon people are now quietly confident that the matter is ended.

The court has sent the case back to An Coimisiún Pleanála (formerly Bord Pleanála) 'for consideration', but the Ballyshannon Action Group believes it is unlikely that a different decision will result. "We've been living for the past six years not knowing what twists and turns this would take, so it's normal that we're still cautious about what might happen next," the group's chairman, Jim Burke, told the Diary. "But we're quietly confident."

Theoretically, the Coimisiún could bring the matter to the Supreme Court. However, as its legal team had already informed the High Court that it was not in a position to defend its client's case in the judicial review, that is considered unlikely.

After winning their initial 2019 campaign against the Kilsaran planning application to Kildare County Council — there were 227 objections, and the Kildare planners refused permission — it was a shock to the community when An Bord Pleanála overturned that, especially as it was against the advice of its own inspector. The decision to seek a judicial review and its potential expense wasn't taken lightly, but the matter had very quickly galvanised a small rural community into a tightly knitted campaign force. Delays in what turned out to be a very slow legal process could have worn down their resolve, but the reverse proved to be the case. Over the following four years, continuing fundraising events ranged from table quizzes and a GoFundMe appeal, through scrap metal collections and a Golf Classic. Following years of legal discussion and various court dates, the group finally won permission for their judicial review in May of this year. It was then expected that a court date wouldn't be determined until this autumn, but on Monday last the community learned that the ABP decision had been quashed.

Relief that Ballyshannon's concerns have been listened to and that 'sense has prevailed' is tempered by frustration that it shouldn't be the role of a small group of residents to protect their space and place against the deep pockets of big business. Jim Burke cites what he terms ineffective regulations around quarries and limited enforcement of those regulations at both the local authority and government levels. 

On KFM radio last week, Ballyshannon Action member Sarah Burke described the outcome as a 'testament to the strength of small communities'. "It's about the right of people to live in quiet places where they have bought their homes. It's about standing up for your community when you know you are in the right." She spoke for all in Ballyshannon when she added that they now hope to concentrate on other aspects of the local area, including implementing a Biodiversity Plan, which the group commissioned in the last couple of years.

Kilsaran has been asked for a statement.

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