High Court grants Mount Juliet residents leave to challenge removal of 'mini-Augusta' putting course
The Mount Juliet Estates Residents Group in Kilkenny claims the removal of a putting course modelled as a mini-Augusta in Georgia, USA, should not have taken place without planning permission being obtained first.
The residents have been given leave by the High Court to challenge Kilkenny County Council's April 29 decision granting the Mount Juliet developers, MJBE Investments, permission for retention of the removal of the two-acre course which was north of the Rose Garden Lodges and east of the Walled Garden in Mount Juliet, Thomastown.
The course was built in 1997 to marry with and enhance the amenity provided by the Mount Juliet golf course itself. It had many of Augusta's features including bridges and water courses which the residents say formed part of a designated landscape, a historic woodland and was part of the curtilage of a protected structure.
Between August and November 2016, the residents say, the course was removed with the land excavated and levelled to create a flat empty area for which no permission was obtained. MJBE Investments then applied for permission, in October 2017, to put 12 houses on the land but that was ultimately refused by An Bord Pleanála.
The residents say after they applied to the council to make a declaration the removal of the course required planning permission, the council decided it was exempt.
The residents appealed to An Bord Pleanála which found with them and said it was not exempt.
As a result of that, the residents brought proceedings under the planning acts requiring the reinstatement of the course. That case is pending.
This week, the residents claimed MJBE last March made its own application to the council for retention of the removal of the course.
They claim this was done to undermine and frustrate their separate proceedings seeking reinstatement. The council granted permission for retention to MJBE in April.
In their latest legal challenge against the council, with MJBE as a notice party, the residents say the council erred in law and acted contrary to fair procedures and/or natural justice.
They also claim there was a failure to comply with EU Habitats and environment impact assessment requirements.
Mr Justice Seamus Noonan granted the residents leave to challenge the council's decision following a one-side only represented application from their counsel Michael O'Donnell. The case comes back in October.
