Over 40% of planning permissions for masts could have been challenged in courts
Installed Sunday A Tallaght Kingswood Being At Mast A On Morning In
More than 40% of planning permissions for telecommunications masts granted by An Bord Pleanála since September 2020 could have been challenged in the courts due to breaches of ministerial guidelines, it has been claimed.
Some 32 granted permissions out of 75 decisions (43%) delivered over the past 20 months failed to give adequate regard to the Telecommunications Antennae and Support Structures guidelines dating from 1996, which state that masts should only be located close to small towns or villages “as a last resort”, according to a review of those rulings by planning consultant Peter Thomson.
The timeframe for taking a judicial review of a planning decision is just eight weeks, meaning that none of the decisions which Mr Thomson investigated could still be actioned in the courts.
Eoin Brady, a planning lawyer with Fred Logue solicitors, said there is an obligation on the planning authority to follow the guidelines or give a justification for straying from them.
“The board is obliged to have regard to those guidelines.
Of the 32 cases identified, 28 of them were authorised by former An Bord Pleanála deputy chair Paul Hyde, who voted on 30 of them in total.
Mr Hyde, who has denied accusations of a conflict of interest in some of his decisions, resigned last week while separate reviews of his decision-making are ongoing.
“The board doesn’t have to follow the guidelines, and it doesn’t have to get into too much detail, but the problem with some of the Paul Hyde decisions for instance is they weren’t providing a counter-narrative to the guidelines,” Mr Brady said.
“That would leave substantial grounds for judicial review.”
A spokesperson for An Bord Plenála said it had “no comment” to make “as these decisions have been made”.
“This is not to be interpreted as accepting the assertion that the 1996 guidelines were not factored into consideration in any particular cases,” they said.
The chairman of An Bord Pleanála Dave Walsh says that “generally” he believes his board to be “in full compliance” with Ireland’s code of practice for the governance of State authorities.
Mr Walsh is to tell the Public Accounts Committee today that he fully recognises “the seriousness” of a number of issues for which the board has become the focus of scrutiny, and “the potential damage that these allegations have done to the board’s reputation for integrity, independence and impartiality”.
Mr Walsh’s appearance before the committee will see him describe the board as being “very cognisant” of its corporate governance responsibilities.
The Public Accounts Committee hearing has been convened on foot of a number of allegations made against Mr Hyde, who resigned from the board last Friday.
He has denied all impropriety.
The code of conduct for the governance of State bodies contains specific provisions for the “periodic disclosure of interests” by board members.
Mr Walsh will tell the committee that he “can confirm that the board considers itself generally in full compliance” with that code of practice.
He is further expected to say that he “will take whatever action and reforms may be necessary and appropriate” with a view to “maintaining public confidence in the impartiality of the board’s decision-making processes”.