The planned redevelopment of Casement Park has hit another snag after a west Belfast residents group launched legal proceedings seeking a judicial review of the decision to grant planning approval to the project.

The Moorehead and Owenvarragh Residents Association (MORA) have confirmed that they lodged papers on Monday in a bid to overturn the decision at the High Court in Belfast.

It comes as work on the £76.4m redevelopment of the stadium is due to start.

A statement released from MORA, posted on the UTV website, reads: "On Tuesday, 1 April 2014 the MORA residents' group gave the Department of the Environment a detailed document setting out their complaints regarding the decision to grant planning approval for a 38,000 seater stadium at the Casement Park site and asking the Department to revoke the planning permission.

"In the event that the Department did not quash the planning permission, MORA indicated its intention to apply to the High Court to request a judicial review and challenge the legality of that decision. Unfortunately, the Department did not give any meaningful response."

The statement continued: "We have tirelessly pursued every avenue. We now have no option left but to challenge the planner's decision through the legal route.

"We acknowledge the presence of the existing sports ground but, in our judicial review application, maintain that a stadium in the range 20-25,000 is the upper limit of capacity for this site, having regard to location within a densely populated residential area, positioning, scale, mass, light and amenity and the possibility of handling related traffic." Tweet

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