A decision by Wicklow County Council to grant planning permission for a housing project in Blessington, seven days before a High Court judgment on the rezoning of the site, has provoked a row.
A Fianna Fail TD for Wicklow, Mr Dick Roche, said yesterday: "[It is] absolutely reckless decision-making by Wicklow County Council." The decision should have been delayed until the announcement of the High Court judgment on the legality of the rezoning, he added.
Labour councillors, Mr Liam Kavanagh and Mr Thomas Cullen, who were among those who voted against the rezoning, were surprised by the decision which they said should have been delayed until the High Court ruling.
Mr Cullen said: "I would have thought a more prudent course for the council would have been to defer its decision on the granting of this planning permission until it was aware of the decision of Mrs Justice McGuinness in this most extraordinary case.
"This could have implications for a number of local authorities . . . It is a further chapter in a most bizarre situation in relation to the Blessington development plan."
Mr Bryan Doyle, the county secretary, said in a statement that the application for planning permission was the subject of a request for additional information and a time extension which expired on September 30th.
"Wicklow County Council had no option but to determine the planning application on September 29th, 1997, in accordance with planning legislation," said the statement.
In 1991, Mr Patrick McCormack bought 51 acres of agricultural land at Burgage More for £227,000 at auction. This represented about £4,500 an acre.
The following year, Mr McCormack submitted an application for permission to build six houses on the site but this was never completed.
In the Blessington draft development plan of 1995, about 11 acres of this land was zoned for residential development. But in the amended draft development plan, passed by the council on September 9th, 1996, a further nine acres were rezoned for residential development.
This and other amendments to the plan were proposed and seconded by Independent councillors, Mr Jim Ruttle and Ms Mildred Fox TD.
About 80 acres of a large parcel of land at Glen Ding Woods, sold by the State for £1.25 million to Roadstone Dublin, were also rezoned for quarrying.
Also a section of land adjacent to Burgage More and owned by the former GAA president, Mr Jack Boothman, was rezoned from industrial to residential.
An application for permission for the demolition of a house and the construction of a large housing project on Mr McCormack's land was submitted to the council in November 1996.
Last Monday, permission was granted for 152 houses, subject to 46 conditions.
Ms Patricia Williams, spokeswoman for the Blessington District and Community Council, said the decision to grant planning permission before the outcome of the High Court case was "very curious".