Greencastle Rouskey Gortin Concerned Community Limited's Application v Department for Infrastructure
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | McCloskey J |
| Neutral Citation | [2019] NIQB 24 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 22 February 2019 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2019] NIQB 24
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: McC10825
Delivered: 22/02/19
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION (JUDICIAL REVIEW)
________
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY GREENCASTLE ROUSKEY
GORTIN CONCERNED COMMUNITY LIMITED
FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW
-V-
DEPARTMENT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE
________
Glossary of Main Terms /Acronyms
1. “AONB” Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
2. “EIA” Environmental Impact Assessment
3. “ES” Environmental Statement
4. Form PA1 The prescribed pro-forma for every application for
planning permission in Northern Ireland
5. “PACC” Pre-Application Community Consultation process
6. “PACCR” Pre-Application Community Consultation Report
7. “PAD” Pre-Application Discussions
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8. “PAN” Proposal of application Notice
9. “Planning Application” Planning application ref. LA10/2017/1249/F
lodged by DGL on 27th November 2017 for,
broadly, gold mining and exploration and other
development
10. “PIE” ‘Public Information Event’: required by Reg 5(2)(a)
of The Development Management Regulations
2015
11. “Regionally Significant” Designation of certain major planning applications
under Section 26(6) of the Planning Act 2018.
INDEX
Introduction paragraph [1]
The Proposed Developmnent [2] – [5]
Statutory Framework [6] – [9]
Departmental Policies [10] – [14]
The Impugned Decision [15] – [22]
The November 2016 Correspondence Issue [23] – [30]
The Proposal of Application Notice (“PAN”) [31] – [37]
The Public Information Event (“PIE”) [38] – [47]
The PAN and Form P1 Compared and Contrasted [48] – [49]
The Applicant’s Grounds [50] – [54]
3
The Parties’ Competing Contentions [55] – [59]
Sections 27, 28 & 50 Analysed and Construed [60] – [83]
Consideration and Conclusions [84] – [128]
Omnibus Conclusion [129] – [131]
McCLOSKEY J
Introduction
[1] The three protagonists in these proceedings are Greencastle Rouskey Gortin
Concerned Community Limited (“the Applicant”), the Department for Infrastructure
(“the Department”) and Dalradian Gold Limited, the planning applicant/developer
(hereinafter “Dalradian”). The Applicant company has been granted leave to apply
for judicial review challenging a decision of the Department made under section 50
of the Planning Act (NI) 2011 (the “Planning Act”) that Dalradian had complied with
the requirements of section 27 of the same statute. These are two novel statutory
provisions which have not previously been judicially considered in this jurisdiction.
The Proposed Development
[2] The genesis of these proceedings lies in Dalradian’s proposal to undertake a
development of major regional significance in the vicinity of Greencastle and
Rouskey, County Tyrone on a site comprising 997 hectares (hereinafter “the site”).
These are predominantly undeveloped agricultural lands, whose features include a
tunnel and some surface development. The site and its surrounds benefit from
certain protective designations. According to the terms of its planning application,
Dalradian is proposing the following development:
“Underground valuable minerals mining and exploration,
including new portal (tunnel entrance), decline (ramp), paste
backfill plant, secure explosives store, fuelling and small service
maintenance facilities, refuge stations and ancillary
infrastructure, mine workings and waste backfill and waste
rock placed in the workings ….
Two additional ventilation raises (main ventilation fans located
underground) and retention of the existing ventilation raise …
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Allister (James Hugh) and Robert Edwin Agnew's Application v Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council
...the recent judgment of this court in Greencastle Rouskey Gortin Concerned Community Limited’s Application v Department for Infrastructure [2019] NIQB 24. [18] Second, the impugned decision is a remade decision. On 29 June 2017 the Council granted planning permission for the proposed develop......