A man who added an extension at his Victorian home in north Dublin without permission is making progress in coming up with an “imaginative solution” to a planning dispute with the local council, the Circuit Court has heard.
The case between Fingal County Council and homeowner Philip Farrelly has been adjourned again for a week after a judge heard the 70-year-old was drawing up a proposal in an effort to reach an agreement before a court judgment.
The dispute dates back to 2019 when Mr Farrelly demolished an extension at the rear of his home on Burrow Road, Sutton, and replaced it with a larger extension.
Fingal County Council started legal action against Mr Farrelly after he failed to comply with an enforcement order issued in March 2020 directing him to remove the two-storey extension within four months.
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Mr Farrelly has argued the development was exempt from planning permission as it was built due to the original extension being “structurally unsound and unsafe”.
The council is seeking an order that Mr Farrelly demolish the extension and restore the site to its original state, a demand described as “harsh” and “dramatic” by Judge John O’Connor last week.
The case was then adjourned to see if both sides could agree to a solution.
At a resumption of the case on Tuesday, Tim O’Sullivan, for the council, said there had been discussions between both parties since the case was adjourned.
He told Judge O’Connor how Mr Farrelly was putting together a proposal for the council’s consideration, “but we haven’t yet seen that proposal”.
Mr O’Sullivan said he hoped the furnishing of the proposal might “start the process of coming to an agreement” concerning the type of order that could be made or a resolution that might be agreed.
He separately noted “as a parallel” that Mr Farrelly had sought retention permission for the extension in recent weeks.
The court previously heard Mr Farrelly sought permission to retain the extension from the council more than five years after receiving an enforcement order directing its removal.
Mr O’Sullivan estimated this application for retention could be determined by the council within the next five or six weeks.
Cathal Lenaghan, for the homeowner, told the judge there had been some “progress” in trying to come up with “some sort of imaginative solution to the issues between the council and Mr Farrelly”.
He believed Mr Farrelly would be in a position to furnish the council with the proposal before the end of the week.
Judge O’Connor granted a further adjournment to next week, saying that if the proposal was not agreed then they would have to agree on a date to resume the hearing.
He noted that the case was “largely dealt with” with the exception of the judgment.
Mr O’Sullivan reiterated the council’s “main concern” was that a declaration from An Bord Pleanála in August 2023 deemed the extension not exempt from planning permission. He said any agreement would have to “fall within those parameters”.
