Peter Sweetman v an Bord Pleanala, Ireland and The Attorney General

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Ms. Justice Niamh Hyland
• Judgment Date: 15 January 2021
• Neutral Citation: [2021] IEHC 16
• Date: 15 January 2021
• Docket Number: RECORD NUMBER: 2018 740 JR
• Court: High Court

Between

Peter Sweetman

Applicant

and

An Bord Pleanala, Ireland and The Attorney General

Respondents

and

Bradán Beo Teoranta, Galway County Council

Notice Parties

[2021] IEHC 16

RECORD NUMBER: 2018 740 JR

THE HIGH COURT

Judicial review – Planning permission – Water Framework Directive – Applicant seeking to challenge the respondent’s decision to grant the notice party planning permission – Whether the respondent failed to comply with the requirements of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy

Facts: The applicant, Mr Sweetman, applied to the High Court seeking to challenge the decision of the first respondent, An Bord Pleanála (the Board), dated 20 July 2018 which granted the first notice party, Bradán Beo Teoranta, planning permission for a development consisting of the abstraction of freshwater from Loch an Mhuilinn, Gorumna Island, Co. Galway and associated works, including a temporary pipe in the lake, for the purpose of bathing salmon in fish farms off the coast in that freshwater to rid them of various diseases (the proposed development). The first argument raised was that there was insufficient consent to satisfy the requirements of Regulation 22(2)(g) of S.I. 600/2001 (Planning and Development Regulations 2001) since no consent had been provided from certain persons whose land lay under Loch an Mhuilinn. The second argument made was to the effect that the Board erred in law in screening out the Connemara Bog SAC for the purposes of an appropriate assessment. The third argument was that since no valid EIA was ever carried out for the four fish farms the development was intended to service, and because the development and the fish farms were “connected”, then, following Case C-275/09 Brussels Hoofdstedeliljk Gewest ECLI:EU:C:2011:154, in the absence of a valid EIA, the Board was obliged to carry out an EIA not only of the development (which otherwise would not require one) but also of the fish farms. Finally, the applicant argued that the Board breached its obligation under Article 4(1) of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy – the Water Framework Directive (WFD) – to ensure non-deterioration and the achievement of good surface water status when granting approval for a development affecting a surface water body.

Held by Hyland J that, following Case C-461/13 Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland ECLI:EU:C:2015:433, she would approach the matter on the basis that the Board were obliged to ensure that the test articulated by Article 4(1)(a) of the WFD was fully applied in individual authorisation decisions using the detailed and complex framework of the WFD. Hyland J held that given the failure by the Environmental Protection Agency to provide a status for Loch an Mhuilinn, it was impossible for the Board to evaluate the proposed works by reference to the requirements of the WFD. Hyland J held that the reliance by the Inspector and the Board on some type of proxy evaluation referring to concepts said to stem from the WFD but which did not follow the steps identified by the WFD, did not constitute compliance with the WFD.

Hyland J held that she would quash the decision of the Board granting permission to the proposed development solely on the basis of its failure to comply with the requirements of the WFD.

Application granted.

JUDGMENT of Ms. Justice Niamh Hyland delivered on 15 January 2021

Summary of Judgment

1 In this judicial review Mr Sweetman (“the applicant”) seeks to challenge the decision of An Bord Pleanála (“the Board”) dated 20 July 2018 which granted Bradán Beo (“the notice party”) planning permission for a development consisting of the abstraction of freshwater from Loch an Mhuilinn, Gorumna Island, Co. Galway and associated works, including a temporary pipe in the lake, for the purpose of bathing salmon in fish farms off the coast in that freshwater to rid them of various diseases (“the proposed development”). Initially, the applicant also sought reliefs against the second named respondent in respect of the way various EU directives relevant to these proceedings had been transposed but that aspect of the case was no longer live by the time the matter came on for hearing.

2 The first argument raised was that there was insufficient consent to satisfy the requirements of Regulation 22(2)(g) of S.I. 600/2001 (Planning and Development Regulations 2001) (“PDR 2001”) since no consent had been provided from certain persons whose land lay under Loch an Mhuilinn. But insofar as the temporary pipe running under the lake is concerned, (a) it does not rest on the lakebed, (b) there is no evidence that it traverses the parts of the lakebed in the ownership of persons whose consent is absent, and (c) there is no complaint from such persons that the pipeline will touch upon or otherwise impact their land. According, there is no requirement for their consent.

3 Nor do I agree their consent is needed because their riparian rights are potentially affected by the development due to the abstraction of water from the lake. Regulation 22(2)(g) requires consent from persons who are the owner of the land “concerned” by the application. The fact that water is taken from a lake where persons own certain portions of the land under the lake does not mean that their land is necessarily “concerned” by the application from a planning point of view, even if their riparian rights may potentially be affected by the proposed abstraction. Land cannot be equated to mean the water that flows over that land.

4 Nor can I agree with the second argument made, to the effect that the Board erred in law in screening out the Connemara Bog SAC for the purposes of an appropriate assessment. Applying the relevant test, i.e. whether the development might have a significant effect on the Connemara SAC, I am satisfied that there was sufficient evidence before the Board for it to conclude that the development would not have a significant effect on same.

5 The third argument is innovative but flawed. The applicant argues that since no valid EIA was ever carried out for the four fish farms this development is intended to service, and because this development and the fish farms are “connected”, then, following Case C-275/09, in the absence of a valid EIA, the Board is obliged to carry out an EIA not only of this development (which otherwise would not require one) but also of the fish farms. I find this argument was not pleaded and is inadmissible but go on to address it for the sake of completeness. Case C-275/09 only imposes an obligation to carry out an EIA where the development is one stage in a multi-stage consent process and previous stages were impermissibly not the subject of an EIA. It does not require an EIA of a development and previous developments not the subject of an EIA simply because those developments are “connected”. Here, a connection is asserted because this development will provide freshwater in which the salmon from the fish farms can be bathed to cure disease. But the fish farms can function without such a service. In any case, EU law does not impose an obligation to carry out an EIA of a development simply because of a “connection” with other developments that lack an EIA.

6 Finally, the applicant argues that the Board breached its obligation under Article 4(1) of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy – the Water Framework Directive (“WFD”) — to ensure non-deterioration and the achievement of good surface water status when granting approval for a development affecting a surface water body. The proposed development will affect Loch an Mhuilinn, a surface water body. However, the lake had not been granted a status by the EPA following precise evaluation and monitoring, as required by the WFD and Ireland's implementing legislation. The concepts of deterioration and good surface water status are inextricably tied to the complex evaluation framework identified in the WFD. Given the failure by the EPA to assign a status to Loch an Mhuilinn, it was impossible for the Board to evaluate whether the proposed works were compliant with Article 4(1) of the WFD. The reliance by the Inspector and the Board on some type of proxy evaluation that referred to concepts said to stem from the WFD were not sufficient to establish compliance with the WFD.

Background

7 The planning application sought permission to abstract a maximum of 4, 680m3 of freshwater per week from Loch an Mhuilinn, a privately owned non-tidal inland lake (characterised as a body of surface water under the WFD) for up to 22 weeks annually from May-September. The abstraction would take place 4 hours a day for a maximum of 4 days a week. The abstracted freshwater would be used to bathe diseased salmon to rid them of Amoebic Gill Disease and sea lice. These salmon are located in 4 licenced sites operated by the notice party in Kilkieran Bay, Co. Galway. The freshwater would be pumped from the lake via a pipeline to a proposed headwall at the coast road where another pipeline would convey the freshwater to tarpaulins which will be towed by boat to the sites where the fish would be treated.

8 The initial application was made to Galway County Council (“the second notice party”) who refused planning permission.

Arguments of the Applicant

9 Although a significant number of arguments were identified in the pleadings and legal submissions, at hearing the applicant confined himself to four points. First, the applicant argued the application before the Board was invalid as it did not contain letters of consent from certain owners of the...