Seymour Dugan and Dora Dugan v Porter Property Limited
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Horner J |
| Judgment Date | 22 December 2018 |
| Neutral Citation | [2018] NICh 24 |
| Court | Chancery Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 22 December 2018 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2018] NICh 24
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: HOR10813
Delivered: 20/12/2018
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
CHANCERY DIVISION
________
BETWEEN:
SEYMOUR DUGAN AND DORA DUGAN
Plaintiffs;
-and-
PORTER PROPERTY LIMITED
Defendant.
_______
HORNER J
Introduction
[1] Since giving my judgment in the action between the plaintiffs and the
defendant on 26 October 2018 about the access which the plaintiffs should be
permitted over the defendant’s development and in particular over sites 11 and 12, a
new problem has emerged. The plaintiffs say that the defendant is responsible for
designing the private access road which will access the defendant’s development.
The defendant says that it is the responsibility of the plaintiffs to design the private
road. Once again the parties are unable to resolve their differences and the court has
had to determine who is correct.
[2] I have heard evidence on this issue from Ms McShane, the defendant’s road
engineer who says in her professional opinion a portion of the road which accesses
the plaintiff’s development is dangerous. She claimed it does not comply with the
relevant standards for the design of a private road. She says she is not prepared to
take the risk to both her insurance policy and her reputation by designing a road as
per the detailed planning approval.
[3] Mr Hutcheson for the plaintiffs says that it is not his responsibility to design
the road. His role is necessarily one of supervision and the fact that the work is
being carried out to his reasonable satisfaction means that he is precluded from
carrying out any design work.
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