Cash-strapped campaigners challenging the planned demolition of a Victorian building in Belfast city centre have won protection from being left with a legal bill if they lose the case.
A High Court judge ruled the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society will not have to pay a government department's costs should its judicial review application fail.
Mr Justice McCloskey granted a protective costs order after being told the UAHS is already operating at a loss and would be forced to abandon the challenge without the guarantee.
The Society is attempting to stop a 19th Century warehouse on Queen Street from being torn down and rebuilt.
Carlisle Property Developments Ltd wants to transform the Athletic Stores site into a nine-storey complex with 69 apartments, street level shops and basement parking facilities.
But the Society is challenging the decision to pass the application by claiming Planning Service chiefs failed to consider the cost of repairs.
It also argues the Department of Environment ignored the view of its own conservation officer when it approved the bid to bring down a building located within the Belfast City Centre Conservation Area.
The Department contends that a surveyors report has concluded the building is now over 110 years old and at the end of its useful life.
Injunction
An injunction has been imposed to safeguard the building until the case has been decided early next year.
Applying for the protective costs order, Michael Lavery QC described the Society's financial position as "dire" even without the burden of the legal case.
He claimed: "The fact that the Department is willing to expose this Society to the risk of destruction sends the wrong signal."
Ruling on the application, Mr Justice McCloskey pointed out how some viewed the building as a "prince among paupers" in a city whose built heritage has been depleted.
Making the order in the Society's favour, the judge added: "The present case I consider to be one of those very exceptional ones where an order of this kind is appropriate."
Outside the court Rita Harkin, the UAHS's research officer, said: "We are relieved that the Society is now able to challenge the Department's decision.
"It's obviously a critical case which will establish whether Planning Service is prepared to use its own policy to protect buildings in areas it itself has designated for their architectural or historic interest."
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