Protect East Meath gets go ahead for Drogheda zoning challenge

The High Court has given Protect East Meath permission to challenge Meath County Council’s decision to zone excess land in Drogheda under the recently adopted County Development Plan.

Protect East Meath had pointed out that the Council zoned enough land in the Southern Environs of Drogheda to accommodate a population of up to 18,000 even thought the Council itself said that the population of this area should grow by no more than 3,300 over the next 6 years.

Under the previous plan, the council had identified land which couldn’t be developed because it was in excess of what was required, but when the plan was reviewed this approach was abandoned. Protect East Meath claims that this approach is a breach of the Council’s legal requirements for land zoning.

Protect East Meath also challenges the Council’s failure to carry out a survey of services on zoned land which is also a legal requirement under the National Planning Framework and also a failure to carry out a lawful environmental assessment.

In the final point of challenge Protect East Meath challenges the Council’s decision because it didn’t take into account a traffic study commissioned by the organization which showed that the capacity of the R132 road was not sufficient for the population increase envisaged under the plan.

The case will return to court on 8 February 2022. Protect East Meath is represented by FP Logue Solicitors.