Planning

A new Planning and Environmental Court with three dedicated judges has been officially launched today in a bid to speed up complex judicial reviews. Mr Justice Richard Humphreys will preside over the court, which has been established as a specialised division within the High Court and has been warml

No prosecutions have been brought for felling or damaging protected trees in Northern Ireland since 2019 despite more than 350 complaints. A new report by the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) finds that while 369 tree protection breaches reported between 2019 and 2022, only one res

The High Court has determined that leave granted to bring judicial review proceedings concerning Kilkenny wind farm must be set aside. Delivering judgment for the High Court, Mr Justice Humphreys warned that “one can only encourage people not to leave it until the last day to try to institute

The High Court has affirmed a decision of the Circuit Court to grant a planning injunction sought by the neighbour of the first respondent. Delivering judgment for the High Court, Mr Justice Michael Twomey stated: “While there will be hardship to Mr Hogan... when a planning injunction is sough

Landmark new planning legislation will improve access to justice by "switching away from a 'no foal no fee' basis to one where we are going to cover the costs, win or lose", transport minister Eamon Ryan has claimed. Ministers yesterday approved the Planning and Development Bill 2023, which the Depa

The Office of the Planning Regulator has published the inaugural edition of a new quarterly bulletin titled Learning from Litigation. The bulletin, produced by lawyers at Fieldfisher, has been developed in response to a survey of local authority planning personnel which indicated that they wanted to

An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Shannon estuary. The proposed €650 million project "would be contrary to current government policy, and in the absence of such policy support... would be contrary to the proper pla

Energy professionals do not believe that Ireland will meet it target to create 5GW of new offshore wind by 2030, according to a new survey by Mason Hayes & Curran. The business law firm polled nearly 200 industry professionals at its annual energy conference, this year taking place in Cork, and

The revised National Planning Framework (NPF) should include more ambitious compact growth targets, an expert group has recommended. Three independent experts with experience of spatial planning, economic and social development and environmental protection were appointed by ministers to provide a hi

Draft planning guidelines aimed at creating "more sustainable and compact settlements" have gone out to consultation. The draft Sustainable and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities expand on the National Planning Framework in relation to compact growth and in relation to the creat

Vacant properties and land in Irish city centres are an "inevitable outcome" of the State's planning system and property markets, according to a new report by Trinity College Dublin researchers. The Urban Vacancy in Ireland report uses Dublin — where "public and media attention has frequently

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has entirely dismissed Tesco’s challenge to an Antrim Council planning decision relating to a new store for its competitor Asda. The court found that the decision reached was a valid and informed one and, although it went against Tesco’s favour, i

A solicitor who objected to a strategic housing development in Limerick on environmental grounds has welcomed a decision by An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning permission for a second time. Limerick solicitor Michelle Hayes, president of Environmental Trust Ireland, said the proposed developm

More than nine in 10 property professionals believe that streamlining planning would have the biggest impact on boosting housing supply in Ireland, according to a survey by business law firm Mason Hayes & Curran — but only four per cent feel that a new government would have the most signif

Planning law changes will be brought forward to continue the waiving of licence fees for outdoor dining and to allow retailers to install reverse vending machines for the planned deposit and return scheme, the government has said. The waiving of the street furniture licence fee for tables and chairs