The High Court has ruled against the Narin and Portnoo Golf Club in a planning dispute with a group representing local residents.
A dispute between the “Save Our Beach at Castlegoland” organisation and the golf club has been ongoing for a number of years.
It’s after the club constructed a large quantity of electric fencing along the Narin Strand beach, as well as from Carrickfad headland to Castlegoland beach.
A gate was also placed by the owners of the golf course – which local campaigners said blocked a public right of way to the Castlegoland beach.
The owners of the golf course had already been asked to remove all electric fencing as well of the gate by Donegal County Council last year, as part of conditional planning permission that had been granted to them for the construction of an equipment shed on their site.
Works to remove the fencing and gate were supposed to be completed within 8 weeks of the granting of the conditional planning permission by Donegal County Council in March of 2023 – but the enforcement actions were never completed by the Narin and Portnoo Golf Course.
Legal action against the owners of the golf course, Liam McDevitt, Paul McDevitt and Knather Acquisitions Unlimited was taken by members of Save Our Beach at Castlegoland as well as local residents at the High Court in September of last year after the planning orders given by Donegal County Council were not complied with.
On the 24th of January, the High Court ruled in favour of the campaigners in the matter, with an order issued to “to remove within three weeks hereof all electric fencing and associated posts and ancillary equipment located on or along the boundary of the Respondents’ lands from the point Marked B on the map appended hereto to the point (at or around the point marked G or H on said map) at the boundary of the Area of Especially High Amenity in the Development Plan of Donegal County Council.”
The ruling also asked the defendants to “prosecute with reasonable expedition the appeal pending before An Bord Pleanala in respect of certain developments the subject-matter of the proceedings,” and “to comply with the provisions of Condition 3 (a) (iii) in the Grant of Planning Permission Reg. Ref. No. of 23/50097 dated 26 April 2023.”
Amongst the orders issued to the golf course by the Council in that granting of planning permission were that, if the fences and gate were not taken down within 8 weeks of the conditional planning permission being granted, a number of additional actions would be enforced also – but of those additional actions, the High Court only ruled to remove the obstructing fencing and gate.
In a statement issued to Donegal Daily, a Save Our Beach representative said:
“The High Court action was taken because Liam McDevitt and the golf links have consistently disregarded proper planning procedures and repeatedly ignored Warning Letters and Enforcement Notices from Donegal County Council over many years.”
“The result of the High Court action is that the owners of Narin & Portnoo Links, Liam McDevitt (a resident of the USA), his brother Paul McDevitt (of Ballyshannon) and their company Knather Acquisitions Unlimited have had to remove unauthorised and unsightly electric fencing along Narin Strand Blue Flag Beach and from along the Carrickfad headland to Castlegoland Beach.”
“This was a huge win for us, as we have been campaigning to keep this headland open since it was blocked in 2019.”
“The McDevitt brothers have also been ordered to remove the gate and gate posts from local road 7543-2 which was obstructing the vehicular Public Right of Way to Castlegoland Beach and to keep the area free of obstructions.”
“The McDevitt brothers have been ordered to pay all the costs of legal proceedings incurred by Save Our Beach at Castlegoland campaign, expected to be a six-figure sum.”
