PLANNING PERILS – PART II THE SECOND PART OF THIS ARTICLE OUTLINES THE IMPORTANT TAKE HOMES FOR SURVEYORS FROM A RECENT LEGAL DECISION.
T
he Aarhus Convention of 1998 covers: access to
Rulings are not retrospective: They merely require the State to remedy the impugned
information; public participation in decision-
law following a successful determination of a case.
making; and, access to justice in environmental
matters. A case taken before the Aarhus Convention
Duration: Cases taken to the ACCC take a long time to determine. This complaint was
Compliance Committee (ACCC) in relation to an extension of
made in 2013 and only determined in August 2019.
planning permission for a quarry in Meath found, in August 2019, that Meath County Council had failed to comply with
Time consuming: A significant amount of time is required to pursue such a case, with no
Article 6 (10) of the Convention, which relates to public
guarantee of success. I always found it very difficult to reconcile the fact that officials in the
participation in decisions. There are a number of points for
employ of the State, together with independent contractors (barristers), get paid, while the
surveyors to take away from this ruling.
complainant (termed the ‘communicant’ by the UN) is expected to act on a voluntary basis.
FEATURE Kieran Cummins Solicitor and Secretary, Eco Advocacy
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SURVEYORS JOURNAL Volume 10, Issue 3, Autumn 2020
