Three houses in Kilkenny city, estimated to be worth €1 million, may face demolition.
A founder member of the Keep Kilkenny Beautiful committee and a former Fine Gael TD, Mr Kieran Crotty, is a director of a company which does not have planning permission for retention of the three houses located in a prime city location.
Mr Crotty and a co-director, Mr Eamon Walsh, may have to knock down the houses. Kilkenny County Council has refused Liselton Ltd planning permission for indefinite retention of the three houses: Numbers 56, 57 and 58, The Weir, Castlecomer Road, Kilkenny. The company has until March 24th to appeal the decision of the local authority to An Bord Pleanála.
However, in an earlier decision, the planning appeals board said the houses were contrary to proper planning and development of the area. The houses were built at the rear of the development and have remained partly finished for some time.
The two semi-detached homes involved are valued at €300,000 each. They were partly built on land earmarked for realignment of the Bleech Road. The third house, a five bedroom detached residence, valued at €450,000, was also built on land to be used for road realignment.
Liselton Ltd's company secretary, Mr Eamonn Walsh, is a well known city businessman. The firm is based at Fairview, Castlecomer Road, Kilkenny.
A company spokesman said the council decision was being appealed. He claimed the council had failed to come up with a design solution to the road crux although it had been asked to do so by An Bord Pleanála.
He said the company had provided the council with three road designs, complete with traffic calming measures, which would fit comfortably into the area and that An Bord Pleanála had said there was nothing wrong with the three houses.
In May 2002, the council granted permission for the houses, although it served a warning notice on the developers while work was progressing in October 1999, requiring them to cease work because it impinged on the proposed realignment.
The decision to grant permission was appealed by Mr Jimmy Lenehan, The Thatch, Bleech Road, Kilkenny, to An Bord Pleanála. He won his appeal.
The council then sought an injunction at Kilkenny Circuit Court in November 2002, seeking the demolition of the three houses. The court decided to adjourn the matter until July to allow the developers time to apply for retention. This was refused by the council on February 24th, 2003 for the same reason as An Bord Pleanála did on October 18th, 2002.
An Bord Pleanála said: "The proposed retention and completion of houses within a road reservation area would prejudice the provision of the original realignment proposal and would also be premature pending the full determination by the county council of the alternative upgrading and/or revised layout and realignment of the Bleech Road."