As readers will be aware, on December 19 last Judge John O’Connor in the Circuit Court ordered that an unauthorised development at Chianti Park, Brittas, County Dublin be shut down.
The developer was instructed that the modular structures that had been constructed on the previously vacant site were to be completely removed by April 13.
Following that the owners of the site – two companies called Mullnassa Limited and Threshford Limited and the developer, Branach Developments – were to restore the site to what it had been prior to their arrival. That would involve significant landscaping where hedgerows and other natural habitats had been disturbed.
Despite the court order the structures remain in place three months after the order was issued and with less than a month left for in which time frame they are all to be removed. From photographic and other evidence available to me in recent days it would seem that no moves have been made to take down the structures. That is apparent from the photograph of the site taken last week.
The developer had been allowed access to secure the site and a security presence has remained there since December but no work has been carried out that would indicate that structures are about to be taken down and removed. Something which Counsel for the owner and developer assured the Court would take some time.
I have contacted the developer Paddy Byrne of Branach Developments to ask whether the company “comply with the order and what steps will it take to ensure that the court order is complied with before April 13?” I had received no response before publication.
I also contacted the enforcement office of South Dublin County Council pointing out that no work had taken place at the site to indicate that the unauthorised structures were going to be removed. I asked them if SDCC has been in contact with the developers and site owners “to ensure that they do comply with the order and what steps will it take to ensure that the court order is complied with before April 13?”
A Senior Executive Officer for SDCC responded to state that “The Council is taking all necessary enforcement action in relation to this issue and will not provide additional comment while legal proceedings are in progress.”
Councillors Linda de Courcy and Paddy Honohan have been making representations on behalf of the residents of the mobile homes in the currently occupied part of Chianti Park/Hillsbrook since the developers moved onto the site last August.
Independent Councillor Paddy Honohan has expressed his disappointment at the failure on the part of the developers to remove the unauthorised structures. This morning he said that “the long drawn out situation has had a negative effect on the people who are living in the area,” and that they would hopefully soon find relief when the situation comes to an end.
Independent Ireland Councillor Linda de Courcy, who has asked that measures be taken to ensure that the structures are taken down, expressed her disappointment at the failure of Branach and Mullnass to comply with the court order.
She said that she trusted that the High Court would “uphold the decision of the Circuit Court and ensure that this development which has been shown by the Council – and backed by the decision of Judge John O’Connor – to be completely unauthorised be taken down immediately.
“The residents of the mobile homes at Chianti Park and Hillsbrook have had to put up with months of disruption and interference with their homes and their daily lives. In their interests this needs to be brought to a close as was promised before Christmas.”
In the Circuit Court it was proven that there had been no planning permission sought nor permission granted and Judge O’Connor following lengthy hearings rejected the developer’s and owner’s claim that the work on site was entitled to an exemption under Section 4(1)(h) of the 2000 Planning and Development Act. They claimed that the work constituted renovation and upgrading of existing dwellings.
As Senior Counsel for South Dublin County Council, Stephen Dodd SC, pointed out during the final proceedings – in rejecting the developer’s request for a stay to be placed on the order – they were already on site and need only begin to reverse the unauthorised work already in place. He said that there was “no basis for a stay “and that such a stay would “entirely undermine the basis of the Planning system.”
Yet, three months later the developers and owners have shown no evidence that they are in the process of removing what in effect are illegal structures. Far from complying, they have returned to the courts in an attempt to avoid having to remove the modular units.
Last Monday, March 9, Brancach and Mullnassa made an appeal to the High Court before Justice Richard Humphreys to ask for a four week stay on the order granted by Judge O’Connor. The parties will appear again in the High Court next Monday to hear further arguments.
Nor, seven months after the mysterious development began, are we any wiser as to what the structures were intended for. Paddy Byrne of Branach Developments had stated that they would be residential units that would be placed on the rental market.
The involvement of companies owned by the McDermotts who own the D Hotel in Drogheda and several companies such as Polarside, Fairkeep and Boogran which have taken tens of millions in payments for asylum accommodation provision, raised the question of whether that might be the intended use of the modular homes.
To date there is no evidence of a contract having been sought or granted through the Department of Integration. Nor have Branach and Mullnassa/Threshford notified SDCC of their intention to seek an exemption. Then again, they made no applications of any kind to the local authority related to the Brittas development.
It will be interesting then to see what transpires over the next few weeks regarding their attempt to be granted a stay on an order they have failed to comply with in the three months since it was issued.