High Court quashes planning decision on Apple in Athenry

The High Court has quashed a decision by Galway County Council to grant Apple a five-year extension of planning permission to build a data centre at Derrydonnell, Athenry.

The ruling means the company would now have to re-apply for planning permission if it wants to build the €850million data centre.

Last Summer, the local authority granted Apple five more years to build the facility.

But this was referred to the High Court by non-governmental organisation Eco-Advocacy and resident Allan Daly.

Their appeal followed rulings by the European Court of Justice and the Aarhus Compliance Committee that Ireland’s planning laws undermine European environment law in allowing extension to planning permissions without public participation.

The latest judgment found that the Council failed to assess extending the period originally set for carrying out the project which is required to be preceded by an assessment of its implications under EU legislation which also requires public participation.

Kieran Cummins, a Director of Eco-Advocacy, said: “The EU legislation specifically requires an assessment of other plans or projects. In the six years since this application was made Ireland’s data centres have grown from 5% to consuming 14% and are now projected to require 30% of Ireland’s energy by 2030. The permission should have been re-assessed in the light of this new landscape.”

In 2018, Apple aborted plans for a data centre at Derrydonnell after three objectors sought a review of the decision through the courts.

The Supreme Court in 2019 dismissed the objections but by then Apple had progressed a data centre in Denmark.

Planning permission for Athenry data was due to expire in September 2021, and so in June, the company sought an extension of duration of planning permission to 2026.

This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see the June 3 edition of the Connacht Tribune or Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.