South Dublin County Council is to return to the Circuit Court on Monday in an attempt to secure an interim injunction against the developers and owners – Branach Developments and Mullnassa Limited – of the site at Chianti Park, Brittas, to which an enforcement order was issued by SDCC last Friday.
Yesterday the Court refused to issue an interim injunction pending a fuller hearing which will take place next Monday, November 3. Residents and other local people hope that their side of the case will be presented to the Court in whatever argument the Council makes.
Gript understands that the developers are standing over the position, which they outlined to South Dublin County Councillors in a letter dated October 6. In that letter, Paddy Byrne, the director of Branach Developers, denied that there are any plans to use the redeveloped site as an IPAS centre.
Byrne also claimed that “the current works are focussed solely on replacing outdated mobile and chalet units with modern, A-rated modular homes for existing residents, and future private renters on the open market.”
Despite that residents have told Gript that they are in fear of being forced out, and some have claimed that they have been told that their own homes and tenancy are under threat. The McDermotts who own the site through Mullnassa Limited have not responded to the claims presented to them.
When I contacted Byrne he reiterated the position he put to the Councillors. He would not say who the owner of the site was but stated that “Branach Developments Ltd is neither the owner nor the occupier of the lands; we were acting only as contractor.” With regard to the original warning letter sent to him in August, Byrne said that “we advised the Council that the letter was misdirected.”
He did not respond when I pointed out that even if the development was under Section 28 that the 2000 Planning and Development Act still requires that application be made to the local authority.
The absence of which has led to the enforcement order and now the application for an injunction. I also asked him if there was any indication from the Minister for Housing that he was aware of or approved of the claim by Byrne that the works are “fully in line with the Minister for Housing’s national housing objectives.” He did not respond to that query.
Yesterday, Councillors Linda de Courcy and Paddy Holohan reacted to the Court decision by claiming that it was frustrating that the enforcement order had not been complied with by the developers and that an interim injunction had not been granted given what they referred to as the ‘clear breaches’ by the developers.
Following the refusal of the Circuit Court to grant the injunction I contacted all five of the TDs for Dublin Mid West – two of whom, Emer Higgins of Fine Gael, and Shane Moynihan of Fianna Fail, are members of the Government coalition – to ask them for their reaction.
Sinn Féin TD, Eoin Ó Broin, did respond and expressed his concern over the decision on what “continues to be an unauthorised development,” and that “irrespective of the purpose of this development, the developer is currently breaking the law. South Dublin County Council must do everything in their power to ensure that construction stops and that zoning, planning, and building control laws are fully adhered to.”
A number of local people expressed their disappointment at the Court decision and were clearly very hopeful that the enforcement order might have been backed by an injunction to stop work on the site.
It is a sad commentary on the way in which the residents of Chianti Park are currently living that one person said to me last evening that they hoped that yesterday’s rain would continue over the weekend and frustrate any attempt that might be made to get more of the modular units close to completion.
There is also a palpable fear as to what might happen to their own homes with some residents telling Gript they were wary of even leaving for any length of time while the work is ongoing.