Cork council to seek judicial review to overturn ban on Kildare Village-style centre

The €100m tourist outlet village proposed for the Carrigtwohill area in Co Cork has been vetoed by a ministerial order — but the county council, which supports the development, wants that decision overturned. 

Cork County Council is to seek a judicial review against a ministerial order preventing the development of a €100m retail centre in Carrigtwohill, having received legal advice showing there are "clear, substantial and weighty grounds” to challenge it.

The vast majority of county councillors have decided to seek the judicial review against the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) and local government and planning minister Peter Burke's order not allow the project to proceed through the normal planning process.

Council chief executive Tim Lucey said the view of senior counsel was there were "clear, substantial and weighty grounds to challenge" the OPR and minister's view that the Rioja Estates project for a Kildare Village-type outlet was not sustainable development, and the council's legal experts believed the objection was “fundamentally flawed". 

Cork County Council CEO Tim Lucey believes there are clear grounds to challenge the decision of the Office of the Planning Regulator and the Minister of State for Local Government and Planning to block the development. Picture: Brian Lougheeed / File

The council has until March 23 to lodge papers with the High Court after councillors voted 46 to six in favour of the move.

Many said they weren't prepared to lose the project — which could create 850 jobs and attract more than 220,000 shoppers to the region annually — because the decision by the OPR and Mr Burke flew in the face of local democracy.

Fianna Fáil councillor Gearóid Murphy, who is a barrister, said other local authorities could be affected by such decisions in the future and they should garner support from them.

"This goes way beyond the issue of the retail centre — it's about undermining local democracy," Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry said. 

"Being told we can't even go through the robust planning process we have is undemocratic."

Fine Gael councillor Gerard Murphy said he was concerned about the ever-diminishing powers of local authorities. “There is a fundamental issue here. It's unconstitutional and unacceptable,” he said.

"The regulator is interfering with the council's business here,” Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll said.

"We've an obligation, whether we like it or not, to follow this through."

Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus McGrath also condemned the ministerial order, saying: “It has far-reaching implications for every councillor and every local authority in the country.”

Independent councillor Alan Coleman said if the council couldn't get the decision overturned in the courts the planning regulator would become the country's "planning czar". 

However, Green councillor Liam Quaide said there was little point in having a national planning regulator if its decisions can be overturned by a council, and voted against the legal option because of concerns about the environmental impact of the project and potential jobs losses in the local retail sector.

Mr Lucey said he would keep councillors fully updated on the likely costs of the action, which are expected to be significant.