The developer of an £8 million golf course at the Old Head of Kinsale in Co Cork is challenging planning conditions requiring public access to cliff paths and the lighthouse.
In High Court proceedings which opened yesterday before Mr Justice McCracken, Ashbourne Holdings Ltd of South Mall, Cork, said it was prepared to provide limited public access, but only by its own choice and without obligation.
AHL is objecting to conditions imposed regarding permission for a clubhouse, a car-park, an access road, a machinery shed and the modification of an entrance gate.
Permission for the development of the clubhouse was granted in 1993. When it was built, however, it was found not to have been constructed in accordance with that permission. AHL then had to apply for retention permission, which was granted in June 1997 by Cork County Council, subject to 11 conditions.
AHL appealed these conditions and was partly successful. An Bord Pleanala, however, in a decision of October 31st, 1997, upheld four conditions which are the focus of the present judicial review challenge against the planning board and Cork County Council.
AHL wants an order quashing the upholding of the conditions, which include a provision that "access shall be provided at all times during daylight hours for the public" to the lighthouse and surrounding areas.
The conditions also provide for access to cliff paths and cliff edges for interest groups.
A third condition states that any charge for public access to lands south of the new gateway "shall not exceed the reasonable cost of insurance and administration". A fourth states that a survey should be carried out by a structural engineer and archaeologist of the ruins of De Courcey Castle at Old Head, in the interests of public safety and the protection of archaeological artefacts.
AHL claims the clubhouse is on a golf course that has been open since 1997 and was found to be an exempted development. It argues that the clubhouse and course are on private property and that the conditions imposed were based on an erroneous assumption that the public had rights over the lands.
In an affidavit, Mr John O'Connor, of Boolakeel House, Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, said the golf complex was run by his company as a private commercial exercise involving an investment of £8 million.
He said the imposition of conditions regarding public access would interfere with the use of the land as a golf course and affect returns on the investment made.
In another affidavit, Mr Brian Archer, senior executive planning officer with Cork County Council, said the conditions regarding access reflected undertakings given in an environmental report compiled for AHL as part of its original planning application.
Mr Archer said the application had been predicated on providing the public with access. None of the conditions implied that a public right of way existed, nor did they restrict private property rights, he added.
The hearing continues today.
