Tristor Ltd -v- Minister for the Environment & Ors. Country/Territory Ireland Type of court National - higher court Date Nov 11, 2010 Source UNEP, InforMEA Court name High Court of Ireland Judge Clarke. Reference number [2010] IEHC 397 Language English Subject Environment gen., Legal questions Keyword Land-use planning Abstract The formulation of a development plan is a matter which is conferred, under the Planning and Development Act, 2000 (“the 2000 Act”) on the relevant planning authority with the decision ultimately resting on the elected members of that planning authority. However, s. 31(1) of the 2000 Act confers on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (“the Minister”), a role in relation to the formulation of development plans. At the heart of these proceedings is a dispute between the parties as to the extent of that role. The Park Village lands at Carrickmines, close to the M50, had been rezoned to district centre by councillors in the course of drafting the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Plan 2010-2016. District centre status would have allowed for greater development at the site. But an order from the former minister for the environment, made in March 2010, directed councillors to reverse the rezoning and return the site to neighbourhood centre status, which allows for smaller development. Tristor Ltd, which planned to develop the Carrickmines district centre, challenged the legality of this order. In a very tight vote, councillors voted to accept the minister's order. Tristor then took a judicial review of the decision. The Commercial Court has ruled that Environment Minister acted outside his powers under the Planning Acts when he overturned the designation by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council of The Park Village lands in Carrickmines as a "district centre". Minister's directions were invalid because he failed to give interested parties, including Tristor Ltd, the opportunity to be heard on the measures to be adopted by the Minister, particularly his decision the lands at Carckmines should revert to being zoned for economic developmnent and employment. On the basis of those and other findings, the judge granted an order to Tristor quashing the Minister's March 2010 directions that the district centre designation be overturned. He also directed the Council to reconsider the area development plan 2010-2016 in light of the court's findings the Council was no longer bound by the Minister's directions. Mr Justice Clarke ruled the company had established substantial grounds entitling it to judicial review related to the proper interpretation of the Minister's powers under Section 31.1 of the 2000 Act and also relating to some fair procedures arguments. He went on to find Tristor was entitled to succeed on those grounds. Section 31 did not entitle the Minister to issue a direction simply because he disagreed with the strategy contained in the development plan and preferred another, the judge said. Nor did it require the Minister to consider the strategy proposed by the Council was a "proper strategy" but whether it was a strategy for the "proper planning and sustainable development of the area. The Council's plan had set out such an overall strategy and the Minister had not applied the appropriate criteria when he issued his directions, the judge ruled. The directions were therefore invalid and must be quashed.