Wicklow County Council has been advised that a meeting at which a series of controversial rezoning decisions were made was legally valid.
At a meeting of the council yesterday, the Wicklow County Manager, Mr Eddie Sheery, said he received legal opinion from senior counsel, Ms Nuala Butler, on the validity of a meeting on July 12th, at which rezonings and amendments were made to the county development plan.
Under the planning legislation, the amendments were required to be made within a specific time period - July 12th in Wicklow's case. The marathon meeting, which lasted 18 hours, went into the early hours of July 13th, and councillors requested the legal advice last week after raising concerns this may have invalidated the development plan process.
Yesterday Mr Sheery told the councillors that going beyond the time-limit by a few hours would not invalidate the process.
He said Ms Butler had advised that the High Court was likely to reject any legal challenge to the plan over exceeding the time limit, on the basis of the "de minimus rule".
Mr Sheery said the rule held that the court "does not concern itself with trivial matters", and the fact that the meeting had begun before the deadline and had finished "a couple of hours" beyond it was a minor issue.
Ms Butler had also advised that, under the planning acts an individual was prohibited from taking a legal challenge based on the plan exceeding its time limit.
Cllr Deirdre de Burca, of the Green Party, and Independent councillor Mr Tommy Cullen challenged the advice. Ms De Burca said she had wanted the council to provide legal advice on whether the fact councillors were not provided with time to debate some of the rezoning motions, and an allegation that one member of the council had a conflict of interest, had any legal implications for the plan.
In a heated exchange with the Green councillor, Mr Sheery rejected the complaint, saying he had sought the advice that councillors had asked him to.
In relation to the rezoning decisions made by the councillors, Mr Sheery said they were entitled to make them and have them put on display, even though he disagreed with their contents.
There were also calls at the meeting for councillors to treat each other and the council staff with respect in the wake of several outbursts and rows during yesterday's meeting and a meeting the previous Monday.
Councillors have agreed to hold a series of meetings next month and in early November to consider new reports from council staff about the rezoning and other planning decisions, and will make a final decision on whether they should be included in the final county development plan by November 3rd.