A 90-YEAR-OLD woman says that she’s “very annoyed” after being ordered to pay €1,500 for having a satellite dish on her house.
Ann “Peg” Rudd appeared at Dublin District Court this morning and was ordered to pay €1,500 towards Dublin City Council’s legal fees for failing to remove the dish within the required time after an enforcement notice was sent to her.
Peg told Joe Duffy on Liveline that she had misunderstood the initial letter, which was sent in February. The letter warned that the satellite dish could not be on the front of her home in Terenure without planning permission.
A second letter was sent in June, at which point her family became involved.
The satellite dish – which was a 90th birthday present – was subsequently taken down but after the deadline set by the council.
Planning laws require that satellite dishes must be placed at the side or rear of a home if there is no permission granted.
Peg, who receives a €240 a week pension, says that she is annoyed about the case.
She said that the letters were “confusing”.
Outside the court today, Peg’s daughter Ann Claxton criticised the council’s use of public resources, saying she thought the letters were “a big joke”, but was then “absolutely sick to her stomach” when she realised it would go to court.
“She’s a 90-year-old lady and the majority of people in this city do not realise they are contravening the planning laws by having a satellite dish outside her home,” she told RTÉ.
“I think the council… Their money would be better spent going around the houses that are lying empty and putting people who are in hotels and sleeping in cars and sleeping under canvas – that’s where the council money would be better spent. Instead of people into courts here, using your money and my money and everyone else’s money to bring a 91-year-old to court over a satellite dish.”
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