Community group asks court to quash permission for Cork City flood relief works

A community group is asking the Supreme Court to reverse the High Court’s refusal to strike down planning permission granted for flood relief works in Cork City.

The Save Cork City Community Association CLG was granted a “leapfrog” appeal to the highest court, bypassing the Court of Appeal, in its efforts to overturn the permission for the works around the Morrison’s Island area of the city.

The single ground of appeal asks whether An Bord Pleanála had jurisdiction to conduct a screening for the purposes of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Direction under a section of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

But counsel for Cork City Council Pearse Sreenan SC told the five-judge Supreme Court that the relief works at Morrison’s Island are necessary and a senior planning inspector’s report had shown that 374 properties will benefit from it.

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He said the relief works were a matter Cork City Council wanted to progress.

An Bord Pleanála granted permission in June 2020 for remedial works to the existing quay walls in Cork City and the construction of improvement works and flood defences along the quays around Morrison’s Island.

The community group mounted a legal challenge in the High Court, but Mr Justice Richard Humphreys found that the group had not made out grounds for an order quashing the permission. He also ruled that the group was not entitled to a stay on the works.

The community group’s case is against An Bord Pleanála, the Attorney General, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Cork City Council is a notice party to the proceedings.

It contends that An Bord Pleanála can request additional information about the proposed development’s potential effects on the environment, but it has no jurisdiction to request the submission of an environmental impact assessment report and no jurisdiction to carry out one.

The group argues that the High Court decision has profound implications for legal certainty in local authority development.

Counsel for the group, James Devlin SC, instructed by FP Logue solicitor Eoin Brady, told the court that it is agreed there should be an environmental impact assessment screening. At issue is who has the power to conduct the screening. He said his side says the planning board does not have the power and should have refused to carry it out.

The court, comprising of Mr Justice Seamus Woulfe, Mr Justice Peter Charleton, Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley, Mr Justice Gerard Hogan and Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, reserved its judgment to a later date.