Legal challenge to Dundrum ice rink thrown out

A legal bid to curtail the sound of music and hours of skating at an ice rink next to Dundrum Town Centre was thrown out by a High Court judge Tuesday.

Retired businessman David Cooper claimed activities at the "Dundrum on Ice" rink had resulted in damage to his nearby property and complained that noise in the form of amplified music coming from the venue was upsetting.

Mr Justice Seamus Noonan heard that staking on the marquee-covered rink, which operates during the winter months, was affecting both Cooper's and his family's constitutional rights and breached planning laws.

Cooper asked the High Court to set aside a decision by An Bord Pleanala on October 19th last to grant planning permission for the rink and he sought injunctions limiting both the hours it could operate and restrictions on amplified music.

Judge Noonan dismissed the application which he said was brought outside of the required time limits allowed in which to challenge a decision of the planning authority.

Cooper's action was brought against An Bord Pleanala and the developer of the rink, Crossridge Developments Ltd, of Usher House, Dublin 14, both of whom opposed his demands.

Cooper, of Main Street, Dundrum, represented himself and said the ice rink had been operated in the Dundrum area since 2009. Permission to for its operation had been renewed on several occasions since, the most recent permission being granted last October.

He claimed the current permission replaced one granted in 2013 which limited amplified music being played at the rink to a maximum of four hours a day with no music at all after 7pm. He said the sound restraints had been imposed in the interest of nearby residents.

Mr Cooper said the October 2015 planning permission did not have these conditions and currently there were nearly seven hours a day of amplified sound coming from the rink.

He claimed work had started on the rink in early October prior to An Bord Pleanala’s decision to confirm permission and that this, in itself, meant the rink could only be operated under the terms of the restricted 2013 planning permission.

Judge Noonan said Mr Cooper had raised a number of general concerns about planning in the area, however the court was confining itself to dealing with the challenge in respect of the ice rink.

Under the planning laws any judicial review challenging a decision to grant planning permission must be brought within eight weeks and Mr Cooper had brought his action outside of that period.

In addition to being outside the required time limits the judge said Mr Cooper had failed to raise sufficient arguable grounds to allow the court allow him bring action.