A haulage firm is required to clear thousands of shipping containers from an unauthorised location in Dublin by the 5th of April. If this action is not taken, the directors of the firm may face contempt of court proceedings for violating a High Court ruling.
Stateline Transport Ltd did not manage to prolong the deadline to evacuate approximately 1,500 to 2,000 containers from a plot owned by Tesco Ireland in Santry. The containers are currently parked there, waiting to be reused for global shipping purposes.
In the year 2020, Tesco and Stateline Transport Ltd entered into a 10-year contract to utilise the Santry land for docker storage. Fingal Co Council, however, initiated enforcement proceedings against both organisations, alleging that the use of the land was unauthorised development.
As a consequence of this, Tesco took legal action against Stateline Transport Ltd, requesting orders to halt the unauthorised utilisation of the plot. An appeal to An Bord Pleanála by Stateline, regarding the retention of land use, is currently pending.
The lawsuit with Tesco was resolved with the arrangement that Stateline would vacate the premises after 12 months, provided that the property was no longer used for shipping container storage. In response, Tesco agreed but maintained that the final decision rested with the High Court.
Stateline suggested to the High Court that they were still awaiting a decision from Bord Pleanála. They have applied for permission to operate from an alternative location in Fingal. Although this application was originally denied, they have since submitted a revised application on the 8th of February, which they believe will satisfy the local authority’s concerns.
Nonetheless, the High Court rejected this 12-month stay in November of last year, instructing Stateline to evacuate within a six-week timeframe. The Honorable Justice Garrett Simons stated that the failure to adhere to the court order might be considered contempt of court under section 53 of the Companies Act 2014. This would potentially make Stateline’s directors accountable for asset sequestration should the firm not comply with the order.
Following an unsuccessful appeal by Stateline last month, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision, reiterating that Stateline must vacate by the 5th of April.
On Tuesday, the case was brought back before Mr Justice Simons. In the hearing, Tesco’s representative, David Dodd, stated that a consensus was reached regarding certain orders, which included a provision for a potential contempt application under the Companies Act, should there be non-compliance with the order. The counsel requested that the case be mentioned after the April 5th deadline for the removal of containers. The court session was postponed until the conclusion of the Easter break by the judge.