Pat Kenny gives up legal bid to prevent building of apartments near his Dalkey home
Broadcaster Pat Kenny has given up in his battle to prevent apartment blocks being built on lands adjacent to his Dalkey home.
However, the presenter stated today that he is “fully behind” a High Court bid to prevent a mixed use development by the same developer at Bulloch Harbour in another part of Dalkey.
Already residents have raised €30,000 to fund the High Court judicial review action concerning the An Bord Pleanála Bulloch Harbour decision.
In a decision last July, An Bord Pleanala overturned a ruling by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, after the local authority had refused planning permission to Richard Barrett’s Bartra for apartments on lands adjacent to the Kenny home.
The appeals board gave the plan the go-ahead in spite of the trenchant opposition by Mr Kenny and his wife Kathy along with other local residents.
The Kennys and the other objectors had the option of challenging the appeals board’s decision in the courts.
However, Mr Kenny said today: “The deadline has passed for judicial review. Judicial review is extremely expensive, and even if you win, there is no guarantee that you will be awarded your legal costs.
And if you win, there is nothing to stop a developer going in again and tweaking things, and forcing you through the whole process all over again with no certainty of success.
"It demonstrates one of the many weaknesses of our current planning system.”
Mr Kenny said: “All we can do now is insist that the Council enforce the strict conditions laid down by an Bord Pleanala, and insist that all the planning regulations are strictly adhered to by the developer.” In both Bartra applications, An Bord Pleanála overturned the recommendations of inspectors and granted planning.
However, residents are going down the Judicial Review route in a bid to stop the other Bartra development proceeding at Bulloch Harbour.
The Bulloch Harbour Preservation Associstion (BHPA) last week held a public meeting at the Killiney Castle Hotel where around 250 people attended concerning the mixed use development plan at the harbour.
Along with Pat and Kathy Kenny, local TDs, Richard Boyd Barrett and Minister for State, Mary Mitchell O’Connor (FG) were also there.
To date, the BHPA has raised €30,000 and aims to raise another €30,000 to fund the High Court action.
Mr Kenny described the meeting as “very informative” but stated that he did not speak at the meeting but “just listened and learned”.
Mr Kenny has previously hit out at the An Bord Pleanála decision describing it as “wrong-headed and has to be stopped”.
A spokeswoman for the BHPA today described the meeting as ‘very upbeat and positive’.
The BHPA in early October secured leave to challenge the An Bord Pleanála decision in the High Court and the case has been adjourned to December.
