Consumers can look forward to the prospect of cheaper car-parking at Dublin Airport after the go-ahead was given yesterday for a private firm to provide 3,500 new parking spaces close to the airport.
Gannon Homes Ltd was granted permission to construct the private car-park after the High Court threw out an objection to the proposal from State-owned Aer Rianta.
Aer Rianta owns all parking spaces at the airport at present, where it costs €25 a day to use its short-term car-park and €40 per week or €7 a day in its long-term facility.
Following victory for Gannon Homes Ltd in the High Court, a company source said consumers could be assured of more competitively priced car-parking spaces at the airport. Gannon Homes' long-term car-park will be located on the old airport road.
The developers are ready to start work on the project, and a source at Gannon Homes said yesterday it could be complete within a year.
Its construction has been delayed by more than two years by Aer Rianta objections. The development first got the go-ahead over two years ago when planning permission was granted by Fingal County Council.
The decision was appealed by Aer Rianta to An Bord Pleanála. An Bord Pleanála upheld the decision of the local authority in March 2000, and Aer Rianta then brought its objection to court. It claimed the car-park would be too close to the airport and, being just 300m from one of the runways, would constitute a potential hazard.
Last evening an Aer Rianta spokeswoman, Ms Siobhán Moore, said the company's objections to the development were purely on safety grounds. "Our concern was that it would be a danger to aviation, not because we did not want competition. We have no problem with having a private car-park at the airport. In fact we welcome more car-parking, but ideally we would prefer a rail link," she said.
She insisted Aer Rianta's parking charges were competitive.
It is understood Aer Rianta is unlikely to appeal yesterday's decision to the Supreme Court.