This article is from page 7 of the 2011-08-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
THE CLARE County Council decision to extinguish a public right of way across one of the fairways on Doonbeg Golf Club has been upheld by the High Court.
The order was made by Mr Justice Peter Charleton on Thursday last, when he dismissed a bid to quash the extinguishment of the right of way, citing the fact that the application was brought outside the legal time limits.
The judge pointed out that under court rules, an application for judicial review must be made within a maximum six months, unless there are good reasons shown to extend the time. No good reason was shown in this case, he said.
The challenge to the extinguishment of the right of way across the course was taken by James McNulty, Ballingun West, Kilrush, who said he was dismayed the local authority would extinguish a right of way to a place of natural beauty.
In his court challenge, Mr McNulty also said that the council had acted beyond its powers in this decision, and that it breached legislation on grounds including that an oral hearing relating to the proposal lacked fair procedure.
Clare County Council voted by 223 in September, 2009 in favour of extinguishing the right of way, which meant the public could no longer walk across the fourth and 14th fairways. The decision provided for an alternative right of way nearby. The plan also involved the golf club constructing a car park to be used predominantly by surfers.
Mr Justice Charleton said Mr McNulty focused on the fairness of a public hearing held by the council in October 2008 concerning its proposal to set up an alternative right of way.
While that hearing was chaired by an independent planning official, Mr McNulty had concerns the county council’s solicitor advised the inspector on legal procedures during the course of the hearing and claimed that tainted the fairness of the hearing.
Mr McNulty also argued the council’s proposal to extinguish the right of way in favour of a private arrangement between it and the golf club was outside the local authority’s powers.