A court ruling yesterday has prohibited Fingal County Council from entering sites it planned to assess for a new north Co Dublin landfill. The order was made after local residents challenged the council's plans to inspect their lands. Residents' groups from five areas: Loughmain/Brownstown, Tooman, Annsbrook, Loughbarn and Palmerstown/Ashbourne, as well as individuals, brought the case last December after being served notice that the council would be inspecting their sites.
In his ruling, delivered at Balbriggan District Court yesterday, Judge Sean MacBride said the issuing of the notices was "procedurally flawed" and the notices void for most of the sites. Judge MacBride made an order prohibiting the local authority or its agents from entering the applicants' land "even under the most stringent conditions".
The council is seeking a replacement landfill for Balleally, due to close at the end of 2004. In his ruling, Judge MacBride said the notices served were "bad at law" and outside the powers of the council. He held that the purpose of entering lands was to establish if they were suitable for acquisition, but the council "could not have intended to acquire all the sites".
Previously, the council had argued that the five sites had to be visited to establish suitability. Judge MacBride's ruling also stated that the council should have carried out "non-invasive inquiries" before serving the notices. These included bird hazard surveys, due to the proximity to Dublin Airport and the possible danger to aircraft.
The council had argued that the surveys would have to be carried out on the residents' lands, but the applicants assert that problems would be caused by birds attracted to a landfill after it was developed.
The Civil Aviation Authority had recommended an eight-kilometre exclusion zone for landfill sites and that sites between eight and 13km should be deemed unsuitable until a bird hazard survey was carried out. Therefore, Judge MacBride continued, notices in respect of all of the sites, with the exception of Loughbarn, were void.