Application for stay on quarry development refused due to valid planning permission and lack of evidence

The High Court refused an application for a stay on the implementation of planning permission granted by a local authority to an industrial operator for the deepening of a quarry, pending an appeal to the national planning board. The applicant, a neighbouring farmer, argued that the development would negatively affect his health, livelihood and land, and asserted that the public notice was deficient, and that statutory environmental procedures had not been followed. However, the court found that there was a valid planning permission in existence due to the statutory sequence being followed, and that it had no authority to impose a stay in the absence of explicit statutory provision for this unusual situation where both a grant and an appeal existed simultaneously. The court also held that the applicant had failed to produce any independent or technical evidence to support his claims, and noted significant delay and lack of candour on his part. As a result, the balance of justice did not favour the granting of a stay.