Development consent sought from seller

A DEVELOPER who bought 24.5 acres of lands at Ashford, Co Wicklow, for €17 million two years ago has brought court proceedings to compel the seller of the lands to provide the consent necessary for a planning application to be brought for development.

Given the current climate, developer Michael Ryan said it was “absolutely essential” his company Saltan Properties Ltd got a planning application in “with a view to ensuring a positive appraisal of its overall land portfolio”. With the setting up of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), “these matters are all the more important”, he said.

The action by Mr Ryan and Saltan Properties Ltd against Edward Cullen, Rathmore, Ashford, was admitted to the Commercial Court yesterday by Mr Justice Frank Clarke. Mr Ryan, Argus House, Greenmount Office Park, Harold’s Cross, Dublin, said he had, in February 2007, entered into a contract, in trust for Saltan Properties, to buy Mr Cullen’s lands at Rathmore and had paid some €17.4 million.

It was “perfectly obvious” from special conditions of the purchase contract he had bought the lands with a view to developing them, Mr Ryan said. He was proposing a business park centre with warehouse, storage units and light industrial units, and a café/retail unit.

Mr Ryan said he had been advised he needed a letter of consent from Mr Cullen to make his planning application but, to date, Mr Cullen had refused to sign that consent. Those delays had led to his loan provider, Anglo Irish Bank, intimating his loan would be reviewed, he said.

The Wicklow County Development Plan 2004-2010, the plan currently in force, provides that the lands have an employment zoning objective, he said.

However, the Wicklow County Draft Development Plan 2010-2016 proposes to remove that employment zoning objective and return the lands to agricultural zoning.

It was “imperative” for him to secure the value of the lands by lodging his planning application before the adoption of the dreaft plan, he said.

He was advised that if Mr Cullen’s consent was not forthcoming and the lands reverted to agricultural use, their value would drop by €8 million. Mr Ryan said he was incurring daily interest of €5,100.