A man has lost his High Court challenge over the planning procedure adopted for a proposed wind farm near his home at Kells, in Co Meath.
Ms Justice Caroline Costello dismissed claims by John Callaghan that the planning procedure adopted by An Bord Pleanála was fundamentally unfair and meant there would be no public involvement in the process of carrying out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) concerning the proposed development.
She rejected his core argument that the board’s designation in September 2014 of the proposed development as strategic infrastructural development (SID), with the effect the application for permission went directly to the board for determination, in any way predetermined the outcome or any part of the outcome, of either the EIA or the application for planning permission.
The decision on whether the development was SID was different from whether or not to grant permission.
She ruled that Mr Callaghan had not established the necessary substantial grounds for quashing the decision to develop 46 wind turbines.