A young couple have demolished their new dormer home in Kenmare, Co Kerry, after failing to secure planning permission.
The couple, Kevin and Fiona Lovett, turned down Kerry County Council's offer that they remove the top storey of the house on an elevated site at Bonane on the Bantry Road and turn it into a bungalow.
"This was simply not possible. Knocking it down altogether was the only way forward," a family spokewoman said.
The couple have been embroiled in a three-year planning wrangle and say they have lost at least €150,000 as a result. "What an awful waste of money this is," the family spokeswoman added. "Planning permission is being granted everywhere and anywhere in south Kerry."
The couple now have permission to start again on the same site. This time the permission is for a bungalow.
The Lovett v Kerry council case went all the way to the Supreme Court over a point of law concerning a Section 140 planning motion. Section 140 motions give councillors the power to direct county managers to grant permission to developments.
The Supreme Court ruled that planning permission on foot of a Section 140 motion only comes into effect 30 days after a county manager signs the order.
The Lovetts had initially been refused planning permission by the council but they began work on their house a month after a Kerry County Council meeting in which councillors directed the county manager to grant permission under a Section 140 motion. The Lovetts claimed in the Circuit Court to have been advised by a number of councillors that they could build 30 days after the council meeting.
However, An Taisce successfully appealed the Section 140 permission to An Bord Pleanála. That appeal was valid because it was made within 30 days of the manager signing the Section 140 order granting permission.
Three years ago, the Lovetts were served with legal notice that the council was seeking a court order to demolish their completed home.
The council claimed that Mr Lovett had built his house without permission and had continued to build even though the planning permission had been refused by An Bord Pleanála.