A landowner who allegedly overturned an ESB machine while workers were trimming trees near high-voltage power lines on his land has agreed in the High Court to allow immediate urgent safety works to take place.
Tom O’Shea, of Stellrose, Wheelam, Milltown, Newbridge, Co Kildare, had allegedly told ESB workers trimming trees that he would “pull down the line” if they did not stop working. He then allegedly fetched his own digger and tipped over a tree-cutting tractor with its operator still inside. He then locked his digger and walked towards his farmyard, the court heard.
Mr O’Shea represented himself in court on Friday.
Asked by Mr Justice Brian Cregan why he was refusing to allow the ESB to work on the lines, for which it has a statutory right to enter his land, he said he was in a wider dispute with the electricity company that has not been resolved.
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He also claimed the trees themselves are on neighbouring land and believed they could be cut from there.
Stephen Dodd SC, for the ESB, said his client maintains the trees are on Mr O’Shea’s land.
Mr O’Shea said he wanted time to respond to ESB and EirGrid affidavits, but Mr Dodd said an order was still required allowing the work to be carried out urgently because of the risk of fire and blackouts.
Mr O’Shea also said the ESB is in breach of planning permission. The judge said the company did not need planning permission for this work and has a statutory right to cut back growth from power lines.
When Mr O’Shea said “until recently we kept them (trees) trimmed back”, the judge said this was not true. Photographs were provided by the ESB to the court, and Mr O’Shea handed other photos in on Friday, but the judge said these were just photos of “a field and hedges and telegraph poles”.
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He told Mr O’Shea that if the ESB was incorrect in what it was doing, he would have a claim for compensation against it. In the meantime, the judge asked whether Mr O’Shea would consent to the injunction preventing him from interfering.
Mr O’Shea said he had dealt with a particular individual in the ESB over the years in negotiations with the company and would like to do so again. Mr Dodd agreed to the judge’s request to contact that individual, who now works elsewhere in the ESB, to get them involved.
The judge asked Mr O’Shea if he was prepared not to interfere on the basis that negotiations would take place involving that ESB employee, with which the defendant had “a rapport”.
Mr O’Shea agreed he would. It was also agreed on the basis of the standard undertaking in injunctions from the ESB to pay damages if the injunction is invalid.
The judge ordered that the negotiations take place over the next three weeks, and that Mr O’Shea remove all obstacles to the land by 4pm Friday and remove locks from a gate. He adjourned the matter to the last week of July.
The court heard earlier this week that Mr O’Shea had previously interfered, in 2009, with tree trimming on land he owns and ultimately was brought before the High Court for breaching undertakings not to do so.
The incident involving the overturned tractor occurred on May 6th last when workers were trying to trim trees near the 110kV Cushaling-Newbridge 110kV overhead lines.
