Mr Justice McKechnie in the high court on Friday 4th June 2010 quashed the decision by Sligo Co Co to grant planning permission to Sligo Airport to extend the runway onto Dorrins Strand.

In August 2009 Sligo Co Co granted Sligo Airport planning permission to build an extended runway onto Dorrins Strand in Sligo Bay. This permission was granted despite wide scale objections from local residents and other national bodies such as Dept of Environment, Heritage & Local Government, An Taisce and Birdwatch Ireland. It was opposed by the residents of Coney Island who were concerned at damage that would be done to the access road to the island. Finally it was opposed by fish farming interests because of the very real threat to critical operations in the immediate vicinity of the proposed extension.

Dorrins Strand is a fabulous amenity for local people and visitors; it is an area of outstanding natural beauty and it is protected under EU and national law as an important wildlife habitat. It is an SAC, an SPA and it is a listed Ramsar Site

Two local residents applied to the high court for a judicial review of Sligo Co Co’s decision to grant permission. After months of delay, multiple adjournments and a number of hearings, Justice McKechnie quashed the County Council decision in full in his decision on Friday.

The scheduled Bord Pleanala appeal which had been delayed under high court injunction, pending the outcome of the high court process will not now take place.

It leaves Sligo Airport back to square one with their development plans – three and half years after they first applied for planning permission to build a runway on Dorrins Strand.

Dorrins & Cummeen Strand Conservation Group (DCCG) welcome the decision of the court and we applaud and congratulate the two local people that took the high court action. It was a strong and courageous decision by them.

This result is a triumph for local activists who stood up for the protection of their local environment and the preservation of the rights of local people. This proposed development is totally unnecessary, is very damaging to the environment and hugely wasteful of much needed public funds.

The environmental group have criticized The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). They group state that they would not have had to go to the high court if the NPWS would do their job properly.

The NPWS is a section within the Department of The Environment, Heritage and Local Government who have responsibility for ensuring that Ireland’s protected areas are correctly managed and developed. This is their obligation under Irish and European Law.

A link to the article on Ocean FM here

Also link here to Friends of Irish Environment Site

Our group Dorrins & Cummeen Strand Conservation Group (DCCG) are also very unhappy with the role NPWS is playing in Sligo Airport’s proposal to build an extension to their runway and other related developments  on Dorrins Strand – a location which has the protection of multiple designations (SPA, SPA and Ramsar).

We are one of six appeals to An Bord Pleanala.  Other persons / bodies who have submitted an appeal against Sligo Airport’s plan include:

1) Department of Environment,  Heritage and Local Government, 2) Birdwatch Ireland, 3) An Taisce , 4) Coney Island Shellfish Ltd and 5) Mr Nicholas Prins.

A number of “observations” have also been submitted to Bord Pleanala

We have asked for an oral hearing.  An oral hearing can be granted at the discretion of An Bord Pleanala.

Your help at any of the fundraising efforts would be greatly appreciated.  Funds are important in this case as we want to employ the best experts we can to present our case.