Why would anyone want to build in Ireland when this kind of approach is commonplace? Planning system need major reform to encourage development. This kind of thing is bad for the country and should not be possible in a functional pragmatic planning system.
No doubt he was using his work email address to give his submission/objection a little more clout. What was he thinking?
If you’re trying to extort money from developers maybe don’t use your work email especially when it’s a massive legal firm.
I would love to know was this a once off or has this been going on for years in these parts of Dublin.
Imagine it was a social housing development in Ballyfermot and a local resident with some sort of clout tried to get money off the builders how it would be viewed.
Anyway what would you expect from someone who works for Matheson, now they have acquired Waystar they’ll probably make Tom take the fall for this one
Delighted for the entitled cunt. For once some actual consequences for a NIMBY dipshit. Should have been named and shamed though…
I saw it mentioned on this sub about a year ago on a comment thread about objections by nimbys.
One commenter said they knew of bribes and “go away” money being sought (and received) by resident groups and others.
They were down voted into oblivion and called everything from a fantasist to a conspiracy theorist to a SF propagandist.
And they were talking about amounts like €5000, not hundreds of thousands.
Edit:typo
[deleted]
“>The homeowners in this case all work in highly reputable positions. Aside from the senior lawyer in the country’s top legal firm, there is also a director of an international company and a member of a state board.
Residents demanded a €125,000 “up-front payment”, plus either a substantial boundary divide or another €50,000, and changes to the part of the development or another €50,000.
The final tally per house was €225,000.
The group also proposed to bring an offer to other residents along the road, but this would not be for cash, merely for boundary changes. In effect, their own neighbours would not be getting the same benefit. The residents’ demands were to not take a legal challenge against the development and to not support any other objection”
So they weren’t even going to cut their neighbours in. Greedy cunts.
Shades of Tom Gilmartin to this whole saga, only it’s the residents demanding the money rather than politicians
I mention this all the time on this sub. Residents in council properties in the city centre extort money from developers and organisations all the time ‘for disruption’ during builds. Several thousand each €. I don’t get ‘disruption’ money if the lad next door decides to spend 6 months building a massive extension. They are all entitled assholes. The douth dublin suburb guys and the free council gaff in town guys.
Do we know which ‘salubrious’ neighbourhood??
Has anyone managed to suss out what south Dublin suburb this might be? Houses selling for over a million with a large scale development seeking planning on land next door. Unlikely to be D4 or D6 due to a lack of land, probably a bit further out?
Also I wonder will there be any consequences for the member of a State board who was part of this group that demanded €225k not to object. Would be good to know what political party helped get them appointed.
Finally the small group were doing the dirty on their neighbours who they had persuaded to agree to boundary changes but they hadn’t included them in the secret payoff deal. It’s gonna be an interesting few weeks in that estate, all out war I’d say
Not sure why we don’t normalise payments to local property owners to speed up processes. Not for things like overlooking or any of that nonsense, but rather for things like direct inconvenience.
Can someone tell me what the illegality is?
For example if I have a house with a sea view and a developer wants to build between me and the sea then that would devalue my property. If the developer and I reach an agreement that he compensates me for that loss of amenity then what is the problem? Provided I declare the payment to revenue of course and pay the CGT.
I’m not defending what he did from an ethical point of view but was it illegal?
And yet, if a new development is going to reduce the value/amenity of my house by €100,000 and I agree not to object to that planning application for a fair sum, that doesn’t seem like an unfair bargain or one that should be illegal. If I were the developer I’d want the objector’s full throated support. But it doesn’t seem like it’s illegal or any more improper than the likes of Supermacs etc objecting to their competitors’ planning application.
Reckon I’m gonna get downvoted to oblivion for this but willing to take the risk. Developers and their planning applications should be able to stand on their own feet.
14 comments
Why would anyone want to build in Ireland when this kind of approach is commonplace? Planning system need major reform to encourage development. This kind of thing is bad for the country and should not be possible in a functional pragmatic planning system.
No doubt he was using his work email address to give his submission/objection a little more clout. What was he thinking?
If you’re trying to extort money from developers maybe don’t use your work email especially when it’s a massive legal firm.
I would love to know was this a once off or has this been going on for years in these parts of Dublin.
Imagine it was a social housing development in Ballyfermot and a local resident with some sort of clout tried to get money off the builders how it would be viewed.
Anyway what would you expect from someone who works for Matheson, now they have acquired Waystar they’ll probably make Tom take the fall for this one
Delighted for the entitled cunt. For once some actual consequences for a NIMBY dipshit. Should have been named and shamed though…
I saw it mentioned on this sub about a year ago on a comment thread about objections by nimbys.
One commenter said they knew of bribes and “go away” money being sought (and received) by resident groups and others.
They were down voted into oblivion and called everything from a fantasist to a conspiracy theorist to a SF propagandist.
And they were talking about amounts like €5000, not hundreds of thousands.
Edit:typo
[deleted]
“>The homeowners in this case all work in highly reputable positions. Aside from the senior lawyer in the country’s top legal firm, there is also a director of an international company and a member of a state board.
Residents demanded a €125,000 “up-front payment”, plus either a substantial boundary divide or another €50,000, and changes to the part of the development or another €50,000.
The final tally per house was €225,000.
The group also proposed to bring an offer to other residents along the road, but this would not be for cash, merely for boundary changes. In effect, their own neighbours would not be getting the same benefit. The residents’ demands were to not take a legal challenge against the development and to not support any other objection”
So they weren’t even going to cut their neighbours in. Greedy cunts.
Shades of Tom Gilmartin to this whole saga, only it’s the residents demanding the money rather than politicians
I mention this all the time on this sub. Residents in council properties in the city centre extort money from developers and organisations all the time ‘for disruption’ during builds. Several thousand each €. I don’t get ‘disruption’ money if the lad next door decides to spend 6 months building a massive extension. They are all entitled assholes. The douth dublin suburb guys and the free council gaff in town guys.
Do we know which ‘salubrious’ neighbourhood??
Has anyone managed to suss out what south Dublin suburb this might be? Houses selling for over a million with a large scale development seeking planning on land next door. Unlikely to be D4 or D6 due to a lack of land, probably a bit further out?
Also I wonder will there be any consequences for the member of a State board who was part of this group that demanded €225k not to object. Would be good to know what political party helped get them appointed.
Finally the small group were doing the dirty on their neighbours who they had persuaded to agree to boundary changes but they hadn’t included them in the secret payoff deal. It’s gonna be an interesting few weeks in that estate, all out war I’d say
Not sure why we don’t normalise payments to local property owners to speed up processes. Not for things like overlooking or any of that nonsense, but rather for things like direct inconvenience.
Can someone tell me what the illegality is?
For example if I have a house with a sea view and a developer wants to build between me and the sea then that would devalue my property. If the developer and I reach an agreement that he compensates me for that loss of amenity then what is the problem? Provided I declare the payment to revenue of course and pay the CGT.
I’m not defending what he did from an ethical point of view but was it illegal?
And yet, if a new development is going to reduce the value/amenity of my house by €100,000 and I agree not to object to that planning application for a fair sum, that doesn’t seem like an unfair bargain or one that should be illegal. If I were the developer I’d want the objector’s full throated support. But it doesn’t seem like it’s illegal or any more improper than the likes of Supermacs etc objecting to their competitors’ planning application.
Reckon I’m gonna get downvoted to oblivion for this but willing to take the risk. Developers and their planning applications should be able to stand on their own feet.