Views differ on the ethics of locals seeking or being offered payments from builders to avoid costly litigation
“I haven’t experienced it and under no circumstances would I engage in it. I don’t think it’s as prevalent as some are suggesting,” he says.
There is a fear among the industry that if people believe these types of payments are taking place, it will only lead to more demands. It is understood that under the proposal the sale price was to be an estimated €1 million above the market rate, according to the developer. One of the residents is alleged to have said agreeing to the deal would reduce the risk of a legal challenge against the development significantly, according to notes of the meeting written up afterwards that were seen by The Irish Times.
Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik says she would be concerned if developers were being asked, or are seeking, to pay off potential objectors.“A review is under way but the system is bedevilled by delays and concerns over conflicts of interests,” she says. The controversial Strategic Housing Development process has been replaced by the Large Scale Residential Development process. While it remains to be seen how the LRD process, in place now for about a year, will work out, early indications suggest it may not be subject to the same level of judicial review cases – legal challenges to the High Court contesting the decision-making processes of administrative bodies – as the SHD process.
If you ask people would they prefer to get money or prefer that the development would just go away, they all want it to go away, he says. Solicitor Fred Logue of FP Logue Solicitors: 'The assumption that it is about blocking development is wrong; it is about achieving an appropriate level of development.' Photograph: Tom Honan
“Listening and communicating is a skill but some local authorities and developers think it’s about putting pressure on people to accept. That’s the wrong approach; it’s about listening to the concerns and reaching a compromise.”Logue says he sees no difficulty with compensation being paid by a developer to a community impacted by a development, noting that many developments incorporate a community fund.
“People have genuine problems, the courts have identified real legal flaws and that is why the cases succeed in such numbers,” the solicitor says. There is clear frustration among developers about delayed projects and the development firm senior executive reflects the views of many in blaming lawyers and objectors.
Once permission is granted, the firm’s policy is to have consultations with neighbours and adjoining landowners immediately affected by the project, as well as residents’ groups, he says.“Changes are made all the time – there’s no issue with that. Where I have an issue is with the objectors who are very comfortable themselves and might live 500 metres or a kilometre away but they look for funds for a lot of stuff – landscaping, even electric gates,” he says.
Angela O’Donoghue, chairwoman of Ballyboden Tidy Towns Group, which has taken several successful judicial reviews over a number of proposed housing and other developments, takes issue with any suggestion that objectors are unconcerned about the housing crisis.
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