By Róise Collins
AN oral hearing has been requested as part of an appeal lodged with An Bord Pleanála against the proposed redevelopment of the site of the Creeslough explosion.
The request was submitted by Belfast based solicitor, Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, who represents a number of the bereaved family members of the deceased victims.
In February, the appellants lodged a substantive objection to the proposed planning application on the site of the October 2022 explosion which claimed the lives of ten people. According to documents submitted by Phoenix Law, the proposed planning application for development in the same location as the incident has caused “immeasurable hurt and suffering”.
“The site of the explosion is not just a plot of land or a developed site, but a place marked by immense loss and emotional trauma,” the document states.
An Bord Pleanála have discretion on whether to hold an oral hearing into any appeal lodged. There is also a stipulation that the ‘national interest’ and ‘issues of social importance to the state’ are factors to which must be taken into consideration.
“It is difficult to envisage a development in recent times of wider national interest,” the document reads.
“Due to the complexity of the issues raised above, and the fact that Article 8 positive procedural obligations as outlined above require full public hearings, the taking of evidence and submissions and the right to cross-examination, the families’ Constitutional, natural and ECHR procedural rights to a fair hearing could only be met through an oral hearing.
“Whilst the families of the bereaved represented recognise that the development can be a part of progress and recovery, they strongly urge against the application proposed in this regard. The document also outlines that the instant application and decisions made by the Planning Authority fundamentally failed to respect the human rights of those families directly affected.
“This is time for restoration and reassurance, not redevelopment. Despite the unparalleled disaster in recent times, a very cursory approach to the application has been by the planning applicant and the Planning Authority been fallen into error. For those reasons the appeal should be allowed,” the document states.
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