Farmer wants Intel planning permission revisited after Paul Hyde allegations
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A farmer who objected to a €3.76bn expansion by Intel in Co Kildare has instructed his solicitors to ask An Bord Pleanála to revisit a major ruling in his case in light of allegations against Paul Hyde.
Mr Hyde, the vice chair of the board, had requested the planning inspector in the case to change his report before the board ruled on it. In recent weeks, allegations have surfaced of Mr Hyde and other board members asking or telling inspectors to change their reports, a highly controversial practice. Mr Hyde is currently the subject of an investigation by a senior counsel appointed by the minister for housing.
In the Intel case, Mr Hyde asked the inspector to make changes but the changes were not made. Despite that, the five-person board ruled in favour of Intel on the planning appeal on the basis that the changes had been made. The errors only came to light when the decision was challenged in the High Court in May 2021.
The farmer who objected to the Intel project was Thomas Reid, who farms the land neighbouring the Intel plant.
In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that Mr Reid could not be forced to sell his holding in order to facilitate any future expansion of Intel. His legal and personal odyssey was documented in the award-winning film, The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid.
His objection to the expansion at Intel in 2019 was rejected by An Bord Pleanála but he challenged the decision in a judicial review. The case was heard before Judge Richard Humphreys who ultimately ruled in favour of Intel but was highly critical of the board’s processes. In particular, he criticised the board for accepting scientific evidence from Intel without having it verified to its own satisfaction.
“How can the board know that the developer’s advisers are in fact competent experts that can be relied on if the board doesn’t itself have, or have access to, equal competence and expert knowledge?” the judge ruled.
"It is the stuff of Challenger, Columbia, Grenfell Tower, pre-crash financial regulation," said the judge.
Apart from the investigation by senior counsel Remy Farrell, An Bord Pleanála is reviewing dozens of files in which Mr Hyde made rulings.
The board has been rocked by a series of allegations over the last six months which are calling into question the whole manner of how it operates.