Dear Resident

This is an update on the GAA’s planning application for the re-development of Casement Park.

In August 2020, the planning officials at the Department for Infrastructure made a report to the Minister (Nicola Mallon).

The planners’ report concluded that the proposed re-development was not compliant with relevant planning policies, as it would have “an unacceptable impact on the amenities of people living nearby by reason of overshadowing, loss of light and general disturbance”.  In short, if it goes ahead, the proposed re-development will cause significant harm to the neighbourhood.

Nonetheless, the planners decided to give greater weight to the various commitments made to re-developing Casement Park, such as the Programme for Government and the New Decade New Deal agreement.  Essentially, the planners said that the neighbourhood should be sacrificed for ‘the greater good’ and recommended that the GAA’s planning application should be approved.  

While the harm to the neighbourhood would certainly happen, the potential social and economic benefits put forward by proponents of an over-sized stadium are highly uncertain.  We are extremely doubtful they will ever materialise to the extent wished for by the planners.  Further, the over-riding weight given to the Programme for Government commitment makes the planners’ recommendation seem pre-determined, i.e., the application was always going to be approved, no matter the harm that will be caused by the scheme.

Subsequently, in November 2020, the Department issued a Notice of Opinion in favour of the planning application.  The planning permission was made subject to the applicants entering into a legal agreement with the Department under Section 76 of the 2011 Planning Act.  Briefly, Planning Agreements are “used to make an unacceptable development, in planning terms, acceptable” (that is how Belfast City Council has defined Planning Agreements). 

The Planning Agreement was eventually signed in July 2021.  While the negotiations were lengthy, the main focus of the Agreement is to embellish and seek to add a veneer of credibility to the GAA’s proposed Traffic and Event Management Plans. 

On 28 July 2021, the Minister decided to grant full planning permission for the Casement Park re-development. 

However, we are deeply dissatisfied with the process by which the Minister reached her decision.  We believe it is flawed to the point of being unlawful.

For that reason, we sought legal advice regarding the Minister’s decision.  Our legal advisors have identified various grounds on which to challenge the legality of the decision.  

Those grounds have now been communicated to the Department, by way of a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter.  The purpose of a PAP letter is to ask the Minister to agree to quash the planning permission, having regard to the reasons set out in the PAP.  We have asked the Minister to reply by 21 October 2021.

If the Minister does not agree to quash the planning permission, the next step is to apply to the High Court for a judicial review of the decision to approve.  That application must be made within three months of the Minister’s decision, on or before 28 October 2021.

If we do not pursue a judicial review, the proposed over-sized stadium will certainly be constructed at some time in the future, bringing with it the harms that were identified in over 1,300 objections to the scheme and which, at least partially, were acknowledged by the planners.

Within that context, judicial review gives us our chance of preventing those harms from occurring.  We acknowledge that the prospects of success are uncertain, as they are in any court setting.  Nonetheless, we believe that we have good grounds for challenging the decision and achieving a positive outcome.

We will let you know how the Minister responds to the Pre-Action Protocol letter.

We hope you stay well in these difficult times,

Yours sincerely,

MORA Committee