US hearing over Dunne property deferred

A COUNCIL in Greenwich, Connecticut, has deferred a hearing concerning a US property believed to be owned by Gayle Dunne, wife…

A COUNCIL in Greenwich, Connecticut, has deferred a hearing concerning a US property believed to be owned by Gayle Dunne, wife of property developer Seán Dunne.

The hearing was told that the lawyer acting in the case, Thomas Heagney, is in discussions with a number of people who live close to the property in the exclusive community.

The neighbours are understood to be considering suing the Dunnes, whom they believe are behind the knocking down of the $2 million (€1.4 million) 19th-century Victorian house with the intention of building a larger house on the site.

The house is registered in the name of Mr Heagney, acting as trustee. The Dunnes have used the address, 38 Bush Avenue, in US company filings in Connecticut.

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The meeting of the Greenwich Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals has received local publicity as the house is in an area where Diana Ross and other very wealthy people reside.

Locals believe the owners of the building may now abandon their current, contested plan for the house. They may instead suggest rebuilding the house using a design that has already been approved by the council.

However, some neighbours are of the view that that plan for the house should also not have been allowed.

The council stopped work on the house in October of last year following complaints about its demolition. Mr Dunne has denied he owns the Greenwich property.

Colm Keena

Colm Keena

Colm Keena is an Irish Times journalist. He was previously legal-affairs correspondent and public-affairs correspondent