Former FG Kells election candidate named as serial planning objector

A FORMER Fine Gael activist who ran for local election in the Kells urban area in 2008 was named as a serial objector to large developments across the country in an 'RTE Investigates' programme on Monday night.

John Callaghan of Kells, and his brother Michael, of Westport, were secretly filmed at meetings with developers, including one with Cork builder David Hogan, who co-operated with the programme, at the Ardboyne Hotel in Navan.

The special documentary, using covert recordings, revealed how the two individuals, operating as self-styled environmental non-governmental organisations, are systematically objecting to planning applications to extract money from developers. They have lodged multiple objections to residential and commercial developments across the country, and multi-million euro projects are being put on hold.

In a time of a national housing crisis, an increasing number of developers say they are being held up by highly questionable appeals, which can take up to a year to be heard. People say they are being held to ransom by mischievous planning objections that claim to be about protecting the environment.

RTÉ Investigates followed the journeys of several developers who have come up against these men and found themselves out of time, out of options and out of pocket.

An Bord Pleanála, the planning appeals board has powers to dismiss financially motivated appeals. Following Freedom of Information requests, RTÉ Investigates revealed there has not been a single appeal dismissed on the grounds of being financially motivated, although the board has the power to dismiss such appeals under the Planning and Development Act 2000.

In November 2022, developer David Hogan was granted planning permission to build 74 houses, allowing him to expand his development Watergrasshill in Cork, where there is big demand for such starter homes. The brothers submitted an appeal under the name of an environmental group called An Lucht Inbhuanaithe, The Sustainable People.

David Hogan had concerns about the group’s motivations. At a meeting with one of the individuals, Mr Hogan tried to address the environmental issues raised in the appeal but the conversation turned from environmental concerns to money.

It is now almost 11 months since his planning permission to build 74 houses here in Cork was appealed by the two men. Mr Hogan has plenty of potential buyers for his development, but he is continuing to refuse to pay the two men to withdraw their appeal, so he must wait for the planning appeals board to adjudicate on the case.

The appeals board has a statutory objective to decide cases within 18 weeks. However, 70 per cent of live cases before An Bord Pleanála at present have not been decided inside this time limit according to a freedom of information request supplied to RTÉ Investigates.

The two brothers have been increasingly prolific in submitting planning objections to housing and commercial developments around the country.

While not illegal, these objections have been described as mischievous and financially motivated by several planning experts. RTÉ Investigates discovered another case where a developer paid them and was also asked by them for sites in that development, in return for them withdrawing their appeal against a significant residential development. The agreement gives one of the men an option to buy sites in the housing development for just €1,000 each when the sites were considered to be worth up to €50,000 each at the time.

The documentary shows how RTÉ also uncovered further payments by other developers – including a fourth one for over €50,000 which was paid to them in return for a planning appeal being withdrawn.

The brothers frequently describe themselves as environmental consultants with NGOs (non-governmental organisations) which are typically not-for-profit advocacy groups although RTÉ Investigates could find no record of them being registered with the charities regulator or the companies registration office. Nor could they find any online presence explaining the group’s goals. As there are no state regulations for NGOs at present, there is no obligation for them to do any of these things.