Green Party councillor Deirdre de Burca has called on Wicklow County Council’s planning section to take prompt enforcement action following the recent ruling by the High Court that quarrying activities at Ballylusk quarry, on the outskirts of Ashford village, are unauthorised.

De Burca says that the High Court’s decision that the quarry’s activities are unauthorised follows a similar decision by an Bord Pleanala in 2002. “At that time, Wicklow County Council referred the issue of whether the quarry’s activities were unauthorised or not to an Bord Pleanala by means of a Section Five referral” says de Burca. “Unfortunately the High Court in its recent judgement was extremely critical of the quality of the documentation provided by Wicklow County Council in relation to the quarry’s activities” she says. “He described the documentation provided by the council as ‘deplorable’ and ‘rag-tag’ and the way in which it referred the matter to an Bord Pleanala as ‘discourteous and unsatisfactory’”.

The Green Party councillor says that it is a source of embarrassment that the High Court would describe the behaviour of Wicklow County Council in such terms. She says that the council’s flawed referral of the matter to an Bord Pleanala gave the owners of Ballylusk Quarry grounds for appealing the Board’s decision to the High Court. “This dragged matters out for another three years while the case was waiting to be heard” she says. “During that time local residents had to put up with regular blasting, noise, disturbance and regular heavy truck movements up and down the narrow roads in the area”.

De Burca says that the council’s recently appointed Director of Planning, Mr Des O’Brien, agreed at last week’s council meeting that prompt and robust enforcement action will be taken by the council. “I hope these are not more empty words” says councillor de Burca. “The locals in the area have put up with the quarry’s unauthorised activities for long enough. The council must act quickly, now that an Bord Pleanala and the High Court have both ruled that quarrying activities at Ballylusk are unauthorised. I will also be calling on the council’s Director of Roads to reinstate the road surfaces on the local roads near the quarry which have been destroyed by heavy truck movements. “I believe that the council is entitled to charge the quarry owners for the cost of resurfacing the local roads” she says. “These people have continued to make money from their unauthorised activities over the last few years while local people have had to suffer