Abbeville owners may face inquiry

The new owners of the former estate of Charles Haughey in north Dublin may face an investigation by the National Parks and Wildlife Service following the unauthorised draining of a marshy lake on the property.

Fingal County Council, which recently ordered builder Manor Park Homes to restore the silted-up lake and marsh at Abbeville, said it had passed on details of the incident to the State wildlife authority and to the Eastern Regional fisheries Board.

A spokeswoman for Fingal County Council last night said the Abbeville marshland was an eco-system. It will be up to both the National Parks and Wildlife Service, overseen by the Department of the Environment, and the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board to determine if there should be an inquiry into the environmental impact of the lake's unauthorised draining.

A Department spokesman said last night could not confirm it had received correspondence on the matter from the council but said it was something the National Parks and Wildlife Service would look at.

Council officials today meet representatives of Manor Park Homes, which bought the 230-acre Abbeville estate for €45 million last year, to discuss the lake's restoration.

It emerged last night that the local authority became aware of the draining when a local authority planning official noticed the lake had disappeared while flying overhead on his way back from holidays.

A Fingal council spokeswoman said Manor Park Homes had accepted responsibility for the unauthorised draining and had told the local authority it was due to "a communications breakdown".

Fingal council said its officials had been engaged in "pre-planning consultations" with Manor Park Homes - preliminary talks on the lands' future development - and that no work should have been carried out whatsoever.

It is understood the developers want to build a golf course, holiday homes and private houses on the estate. Mr Haughey still lives in the property's Gandon-designed house.

A local authority spokeswoman said that after the official observed the lake from the air another official made a site visit last week.

The spokeswoman said the local authority took the unauthorised draining of the marshy lake "very seriously".

The Green Party last night strongly criticised the unauthorised draining as "a very serious breach of planing procedure".

Green Party councillor on Fingal County Council Mr Robert Kelly said the development "already had an inverse impact on the environment resulting in interference with a water course and natural flora and fauna".

The Green Party will oppose the development of a golf course and housing on the Kinsealy estate and will demand that it should be retained as a green belt.