Glasthule fieldDún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has said it won't be defending a case being taken against it by the Trustees of the Presentation Brothers Religious Order in Glasthule, Co Dublin.
The trustees initiated judicial review proceedings following the council's decision to adopt a variation which would zone four acres of the order's lands as green space.
A Commercial Court hearing for the action being taken has been set for April 15th.
However, in a letter to local councillors, the County Manager Owen Keegan said that following legal advice he considers it "both appropriate and prudent" not to defend the proceedings and to allow the council's decision to vary the development plan be quashed.
He said the religious order makes a strong case that the procedures adopted by the council are, in the legal sense "infirm".
He added that defending the proceedings would be costly and result in delay and that the court would be "more likely to quash the decision to adopt the variation arising from the difficulties, which have been identified".
A detailed report on the matter is due to be issued by the county council this month.
Cllr Mary Mitchell O'Connor, a school principal in Glasthule, said "Green open space is at a premium in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown county and, if this land is developed, it is lost for ever to future generations.
" I would like to see the Presentation Brothers take into account the community's requirements."
