Residents get leave to challenge Dundrum apartment development

 A residents’ group has obtained permission from the High Court to bring a legal challenge aimed at overturning planning approval for a development of 446 apartments in Dundrum, Co Dublin. Concerned Residents of Wesley Estate, Clonard Estate and Ballawley Court Estate, with an address at Sandyford, Co Dublin, has brought the judicial review proceedings against An Bord Pleanála and the State. It wants orders quashing the board’s permission of January 6th last for 446 apartments, in four blocks, and associated works at the site of Gort Mhuire Carmelite Centre, (Marmalade Lane) Wyckham Avenue, Dundrum, Dublin. The fast-track permission was granted to 1 Wyckham Land Ltd after the board designated the proposed development a strategic housing development under the Planning and Development (Housing and Residential Tenancies) Act 2016.

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Surge in strategic housing developments being quashed

 Earlier this week a report by construction consultants Mitchell McDermott outlined the spike last year in the number of potential units in strategic housing developments (SHDs) in Dublin that were either quashed or held up by judicial reviews. While 508 potential housing units were affected by judicial reviews in Dublin in 2019 that figure jumped to 5,802 last year – thus thwarting the fast-track element of the process. The SHD process was introduced by the government in 2017 to provide a fast-track mechanism for planning permissions for housing schemes with 100-plus units. Essentially, it allows the developer to bypass the local authority and seek permission directly from An Bord Pleanála. It was a key policy measure designed to tackle the housing crisis, which has persisted for about a decade and is a major issue with voters.

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Judicial reviews arising in Strategic Housing Development cases as there is no other appeal option

 A new report has found that the number of units in planned Strategic Housing Developments (SHD) in Dublin that have been delayed or cancelled as a result of judicial reviews has risen tenfold in the last year. Last year 5,802 potential new apartments and houses were impacted by legal challenges to SHDs, compared to just 508 a year earlier. The annual construction sector report by consultants Mitchell McDermott, also found that judicial reviews involving SHDs nationally had risen seven-fold, from 1,048 units in 2019 to 6,969 last year. SHDs involve a faster than normal planning process and can only be used for developments of 100 apartments or houses or more than 200 student beds.

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