COUNTY HALL, 15 July 2001: by Brian Byrne. A lawsuit claiming £22m in compensation has been instigated by developer Gerry Deane against Kildare County Council, whose controversial housing plan for Ballymore Eustace was severely curtailed by An Bord Pleanala.
The 'loss of earnings' claim was made by Mr Deane following the scaling down of his original 507-house proposal to 149 houses in a series of planning applications and appeals over the last three years.
Restrictions on the number of houses which can be built in any one year were also imposed as well as what are described as 'unusually high' development levies. The applications for the development in what was originally known locally as 'Jack Lawlor's Field' were made by Mr Deane's company, Abbeydrive Developments.
Local opposition to the development led to the formation of a lobby group, Association for Ballymore Controlled Development (ABCD) which achieved national attention for their campaign by an appearance of three members on Gay Byrne's 'Late Late Show' (including Rose O'Donoghue on left), during which they said they would 'lie down in front of bulldozers' rather than accept a development which was 'out of proportion' to the 300-home village.
Mr Deane, originally from the West of Ireland, operated as a property developer for many years in San Francisco.
Related Stories:
The original Bord Pleanala Oral Hearing
Gerry is upset about what they're saying in San Francisco
©2001brianbyrne/knn