Eircell was given leave by the High Court yesterday to challenge a decision of Wicklow County Council to revoke planning permission for a 30-metre mobile phone mast and base station near Kilbride in Co Wicklow.
Planning permission for the development at Ballard Upper, Kilbride, was granted by An Bord Pleanala on June 19th, 1998, but was revoked by the council on November 5th last.
In revoking the permission, the council said its policy on telecommunications structures was infringed by the proposed development. That policy stated that base stations should not be within 1,000 metres of villages or hamlets.
Companies seeking to erect masts should provide sufficient evidence that the location was the only one which could possibly meet specific requirements, and that other alternatives had been examined but were not capable of being exploited. Commercial competition would not be accepted as a reason.
In an affidavit yesterday Mr Thomas Murtagh of Eircell said the council, in revoking permission, was seeking to rely on a variation of its development plan as constituting a change in circumstances relating to the proper planning and development of the area. He was advised that such a variation did not represent a change in circumstances within the meaning of Section 30 of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act 1963.