EU’s top court paves way for controversial development plan for Dublin 8

The European Union’s highest court has cleared the way for a controversial plan by US property group Hines to build hundreds of homes off the South Circular Road in Dublin 8.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has clarified a number of legal questions around environmental assessments and building height restrictions in a judicial review of approval for the 416-home scheme taken by local residents.

Hines is now expected to seek to have the judicial review dismissed when it appears in the High Court on Monday.

The residents are objecting to Hines’s plans to redevelop the former Bailey Gibson lands in Dublin 8, which had been given the green light by An Bord Pleanála in September 2020 against the recommendation of its inspector. Local residents then took a High Court challenge seeking to have the board’s decision quashed after raising concerns about the height and scale of the scheme.

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While Mr Justice Richard Humphreys rejected the residents’ High Court challenge under Irish law, he stayed the proceedings and referred four questions relating to EU law to the ECJ for its determination. The issues refer to directives designed to ensure that development plans and regulations are subjected to environmental assessment.

The ECJ has now clarified the application of the directives.

Hines said in a statement: “Hines is very pleased with the ECJ ruling and looks forward to the swift conclusion of the proceedings so it can move to progress the delivery of 416 much needed new homes in the Dublin 8 area.”

Since the referral to the CJEU last year, Hines has submitted revised plans to An Bord Pleanála for 345 residential units across five buildings ranging in height from two to a maximum of seven storeys, as opposed to the 16-storey block it had sought to build originally.

The Irish Times understands that Hines will now proceed with whichever version of the plan secures permission first.

[ ‘Mini-Manhattan’ could be built on Dublin’s SCR under development plan, residents say ]

The Bailey Gibson lands adjoin the Player Wills portion of the South Circular Road site, which has planning in place for the construction of 732 apartments across four blocks with one building rising to a height of 19 storeys. This element of the overall scheme, on lands spanning 13.6 acres, has also been referred to the CJEU for a determination.