MEATH COUNTY manager Tom Dowling yesterday told the elected councillors it would be “totally unrealistic” for him to actively manage the day-to-day management of the planning department.
He was responding to such a recommendation, contained in an independent review he commissioned this year.
The same review recommended the council planning department be restructured.
In a statement to the county councillors yesterday, Mr Dowling said the review “makes difficult reading for all of us”, and that he “accepted the findings”.
The review followed on the decision of the High Court to make a €4 million award against the council after legal action was taken by Darlington Properties Ltd relating to a site it purchased from the council in 2006 for €4.5 million.
The review team was asked to examine all the circumstances leading up to the court action, and the review was carried out by Gerry Kearney, a former secretary general and former assistant secretary with the Revenue Commissioners, and John Quinlivan, who is a member of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group and former Louth county manager.
The review found the council planning department should be “restructured” and the county manager “should assume direct executive responsibility for all planning matters”.
Yesterday, Mr Dowling said he intended to “take direct executive responsibility for implementing the recommendations contained in the report and retain that responsibility for as long as it takes to deliver the change required”.
He added that he understood “the intent” of the recommendation that he assume direct executive responsibility but, he added: “As county manager I have high-level executive responsibility for delivery of all of this local authority’s services.
“I believe it would be totally unrealistic for me, in a county of this size, to actively day-to-day manage this busy department without damaging my input into the council’s other areas of responsibility, of which there are many.”
He said he would “restructure” the remit of the director of services for planning “so as to allow him to focus 100 per cent on the delivery of this change programme and actively manage the department, unburdened by other responsibilities”.
Among the changes to be made, which Mr Dowling said people would be made “personally accountable” for, were restructuring of the planning department, a full audit of unaudited planning processes and procedures, new procedures so all major contracts involving disposal of council assets had to be signed off by senior management, and performance-related measures in the department.
Mr Dowling said he was conscious that changes must “strike the correct balance between appropriate levels of control and governance and the requirement to deliver a good and efficient service”.
He said he knew the planning department had played a significant role in the development of the county. In relation to planning staff, he said: “I want to reiterate my commitment as manager to supporting them and working with them to implement the changes necessary to instil confidence and improve morale.”
All of the 25 recommendations will be implemented, and Mr Dowling said he has asked the team to return in a year’s time “to measure the progress made”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label meath county council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meath county council. Show all posts
Monday, 19 September 2011
Review urges restructure of planning at Meath council
THE PLANNING department in Meath County Council should be “restructured” and the county manager “should assume direct executive responsibility for all planning matters,” according to an independent review that will be debated by councillors at a meeting in Navan today.
The review was commissioned by county manager Tom Dowling after a €4 million award was made against the council following High Court action by Darlington Properties. In his judgment, Mr Justice Peter Kelly found the company had bought a site in Ashbourne from the council in 2006 for €4.5 million after being told a road linking the land to the town centre was to be built on it.
However, it later emerged the council had already granted planning permission on another site, which made the building of the road impossible.
Mr Justice Kelly said this was an extraordinary tale of “error after error” being made by the council.
The review was prepared by Gerry Kearney, a former secretary general and former assistant secretary with the Revenue Commissioners, and John Quinlivan, who is a member of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group and former Louth county manager.
The review, which was given to councillors last weekend, says “a series of events and errors spanning over a decade” were relevant to the court case. These include the granting of permission in 1999 for another company which included a roadway linking with the town centre. A revision of this permission in 2000 omitted the road and instead provided for development across its alignment.
When the council then advertised the land, which was bought by Darlington Properties, “a selling point . . . was the proposed provision of a road from the site into Ashbourne Town Centre”, the review said.
At the time of the sale, the county development plan had the provision of the road as an objective. However, a year earlier (2005) the council had granted permission to Naus Investments for a development along the line of this road and when in 2007 building began there, Darlington raised it with the council.
On the subject of the sale, by tender, of the land, the review said: “It appears to have been left entirely to an executive planning officer to provide planning division input to a sale worth millions, and, however inadvertently, to cause a contractual requirement that was clearly impractical and in direct conflict with the council’s own previous decisions.
“Management oversight was also deficient in the wider management of the contractual terms – at the very least this should have required that senior personnel, both administrative and planning, sign off on requirements emerging from their areas.” It added that “concerns arise as to the wider governance controls adopted by the council when embarking on significant legally binding contracts and major asset disposals”.
Sinn Féin councillor Joe Reilly said the report on numerous managerial failures “calls into question if Meath County Council as presently structured is fit for purpose”.
The Department of the Environment said the Minister would examine the review. “This is a matter first and foremost for the council, who initiated the review. However, the Minister can say that he will consider carefully the outcome of the review and the actions proposed by the council.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The review was commissioned by county manager Tom Dowling after a €4 million award was made against the council following High Court action by Darlington Properties. In his judgment, Mr Justice Peter Kelly found the company had bought a site in Ashbourne from the council in 2006 for €4.5 million after being told a road linking the land to the town centre was to be built on it.
However, it later emerged the council had already granted planning permission on another site, which made the building of the road impossible.
Mr Justice Kelly said this was an extraordinary tale of “error after error” being made by the council.
The review was prepared by Gerry Kearney, a former secretary general and former assistant secretary with the Revenue Commissioners, and John Quinlivan, who is a member of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group and former Louth county manager.
The review, which was given to councillors last weekend, says “a series of events and errors spanning over a decade” were relevant to the court case. These include the granting of permission in 1999 for another company which included a roadway linking with the town centre. A revision of this permission in 2000 omitted the road and instead provided for development across its alignment.
When the council then advertised the land, which was bought by Darlington Properties, “a selling point . . . was the proposed provision of a road from the site into Ashbourne Town Centre”, the review said.
At the time of the sale, the county development plan had the provision of the road as an objective. However, a year earlier (2005) the council had granted permission to Naus Investments for a development along the line of this road and when in 2007 building began there, Darlington raised it with the council.
On the subject of the sale, by tender, of the land, the review said: “It appears to have been left entirely to an executive planning officer to provide planning division input to a sale worth millions, and, however inadvertently, to cause a contractual requirement that was clearly impractical and in direct conflict with the council’s own previous decisions.
“Management oversight was also deficient in the wider management of the contractual terms – at the very least this should have required that senior personnel, both administrative and planning, sign off on requirements emerging from their areas.” It added that “concerns arise as to the wider governance controls adopted by the council when embarking on significant legally binding contracts and major asset disposals”.
Sinn Féin councillor Joe Reilly said the report on numerous managerial failures “calls into question if Meath County Council as presently structured is fit for purpose”.
The Department of the Environment said the Minister would examine the review. “This is a matter first and foremost for the council, who initiated the review. However, the Minister can say that he will consider carefully the outcome of the review and the actions proposed by the council.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Appeals board to look at Slane bypass
AN BORD Pleanála has asked Meath County Council to supply detailed additional information on the proposed N2 Slane bypass – including whether any alternative route west of the village had been examined.
The current proposal, which includes a new bridge over the river Boyne, runs to the east of Slane and has proved controversial because this would bring it close to the Brú na Bóinne archaeological complex – a designated Unesco World Heritage Site.
The council, which is acting as agent for the National Roads Authority, has now been asked to furnish 12 points of additional information to “clarify” its environmental impact statement (EIS), to assist the appeals board in adjudicating on the scheme.
Seeking details of any alternative route, the board said: “If such a route has not been examined, a desktop study and drawings are required of a potential route to the west of Slane to the same level of detail as the routes examined [but not chosen].”
Referring to a statement in the EIS that the route selection for the Slane bypass “has been influenced by its potential for future inclusion in a longer [dual-carriageway] route between Ashbourne and Ardee, the board wants more information on this plan.
“The non-technical summary of the EIS should be expanded to include an illustration of the proposed bridge, a map showing alternative routes considered for the road and a map/aerial photograph showing the route in relation to the world heritage site”.
It is also seeking details – “with drawings as appropriate” – of alternative designs examined for the proposed bridge over the Boyne, which has been criticised by objectors as unnecessarily intrusive in the context of the landscape of Brú na Bóinne.
The board’s request said it considered that the photomontages in the EIS are “not of sufficient scale” to enable it to “fully assess the landscape and visual impacts of the proposed development”, and more high-quality photomontages are required.
These should include views from the Hill of Slane looking east, the Knowth prehistoric site at both ground level and from the top of this monument, and existing and proposed views from the river valley 300 metres east of the planned Boyne bridge. The board also wants A3-size photomontages of views of the bridge from Knowth, the Hill of Slane, the Battle of the Boyne crossing point at Rosnaree, poet Francis Ledwidge’s cottage, and a typical point within the world heritage site buffer zone.
It has also asked the council to provide a report of “all geophysical and archaeological investigations carried out for the purpose of route selection and impact identification” to clarify the extent of land subject to surveying, field walking and excavation.
The council has been given a deadline of next Monday to respond.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The current proposal, which includes a new bridge over the river Boyne, runs to the east of Slane and has proved controversial because this would bring it close to the Brú na Bóinne archaeological complex – a designated Unesco World Heritage Site.
The council, which is acting as agent for the National Roads Authority, has now been asked to furnish 12 points of additional information to “clarify” its environmental impact statement (EIS), to assist the appeals board in adjudicating on the scheme.
Seeking details of any alternative route, the board said: “If such a route has not been examined, a desktop study and drawings are required of a potential route to the west of Slane to the same level of detail as the routes examined [but not chosen].”
Referring to a statement in the EIS that the route selection for the Slane bypass “has been influenced by its potential for future inclusion in a longer [dual-carriageway] route between Ashbourne and Ardee, the board wants more information on this plan.
“The non-technical summary of the EIS should be expanded to include an illustration of the proposed bridge, a map showing alternative routes considered for the road and a map/aerial photograph showing the route in relation to the world heritage site”.
It is also seeking details – “with drawings as appropriate” – of alternative designs examined for the proposed bridge over the Boyne, which has been criticised by objectors as unnecessarily intrusive in the context of the landscape of Brú na Bóinne.
The board’s request said it considered that the photomontages in the EIS are “not of sufficient scale” to enable it to “fully assess the landscape and visual impacts of the proposed development”, and more high-quality photomontages are required.
These should include views from the Hill of Slane looking east, the Knowth prehistoric site at both ground level and from the top of this monument, and existing and proposed views from the river valley 300 metres east of the planned Boyne bridge. The board also wants A3-size photomontages of views of the bridge from Knowth, the Hill of Slane, the Battle of the Boyne crossing point at Rosnaree, poet Francis Ledwidge’s cottage, and a typical point within the world heritage site buffer zone.
It has also asked the council to provide a report of “all geophysical and archaeological investigations carried out for the purpose of route selection and impact identification” to clarify the extent of land subject to surveying, field walking and excavation.
The council has been given a deadline of next Monday to respond.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 5 April 2010
Meath county council to lease social housing from property owners
Nama may have found its first customer for the ghost estates across the country.
Meath county council last week announced it would enter into lease agreements with property owners for social housing for between 10 and 20 years. The long-term certainty of income would be attractive to the toxic loan company but would also attract the attention of developers with empty units.
The council said it would also be interested in buying a small number of two-, three- or four-bedroom houses for allocation to applicants on the social housing waiting list. However, it will not buy apartments, according to a tender on the e-tenders website.
"Priority will be given to purchases of houses in areas of greatest need, including Navan, Ashbourne, Dunboyne, Laytown/ Bettystown, Stamullen, Dunshaughlin, Duleek, Kells, Trim, Slane, and Oldcastle," it said.
The council said it will consider whether the proposed sale price reflects excellent value for money measured against current market valuations in the area as part of the process.
Meanwhile, it emerged last week that up to 2,100 housing units assigned for affordable housing could be empty by the end of the year. Already 1,100 remain unsold and another 1,000 are coming on stream this year.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Meath county council last week announced it would enter into lease agreements with property owners for social housing for between 10 and 20 years. The long-term certainty of income would be attractive to the toxic loan company but would also attract the attention of developers with empty units.
The council said it would also be interested in buying a small number of two-, three- or four-bedroom houses for allocation to applicants on the social housing waiting list. However, it will not buy apartments, according to a tender on the e-tenders website.
"Priority will be given to purchases of houses in areas of greatest need, including Navan, Ashbourne, Dunboyne, Laytown/ Bettystown, Stamullen, Dunshaughlin, Duleek, Kells, Trim, Slane, and Oldcastle," it said.
The council said it will consider whether the proposed sale price reflects excellent value for money measured against current market valuations in the area as part of the process.
Meanwhile, it emerged last week that up to 2,100 housing units assigned for affordable housing could be empty by the end of the year. Already 1,100 remain unsold and another 1,000 are coming on stream this year.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Ex-attorney general among objectors to Slane bypass near prehistoric sites
FORMER ATTORNEY general John Rogers SC, who lives in the Boyne valley, will be among the objectors to plans by Meath County Council and the National Roads Authority (NRA) to build a bypass of Slane 500 metres from the Brú na Bóinne archaeological complex.
Today is the last day for making submissions to An Bord Pleanála, which will adjudicate on the scheme under the 2006 Strategic Infrastructure Act.
Depending on the number of objections, the board may decide to hold an oral hearing.
The proposed route, running east of Slane, is being opposed by the newly formed Save Newgrange campaign, led by Vincent Salafia, who was prominent in the protracted struggle against the M3 motorway because of its proximity to the Hill of Tara.
Yesterday, Mr Salafia called on An Bord Pleanála to extend the deadline, arguing that the public notice was inadequate, that more time was needed by the public and that access to information on the project had been “unreasonably curtailed”.
He said Save Newgrange had lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission, alleging the public consultation process was “flawed” and calling on the commission to intervene so the deadline could be extended for 90 days.
The planned new section of the N2 is 3.5km long and would cross the river Boyne on a new bridge at a location 1.1km to the east of the existing Slane Bridge, which has been the scene of several traffic incidents involving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
The frequency and severity of these incidents have been reduced since 2002, when the county council introduced extra traffic signals and an overhead gantry on the steeper southbound approach to the bridge, to control HGVs.
It is estimated that some 1,600 HGVs pass through the centre of Slane village every day. The volume of such traffic on the N2 led local residents to campaign for a ban on HGVs in Slane, and this was adopted by the county council in April 2009.
The resolution was not implemented because of fears that it “could have serious consequences for Meath County Council in terms of possible legal exposure, delivery delays and business frustration”, according to director of services Eugene Cummins.
The environmental impact statement (EIS) on the bypass proposal says it would remove through-traffic from the existing N2 through Slane, improving the village’s environment as well as giving an “improved level of service” on the route.
However, it concedes that the new stretch of the N2 route would be “just over 500 metres from the Unesco World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne, comprising the three main prehistoric sites [of] Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth”, on the north bank of the Boyne.
“The assessment identified 44 archaeological and cultural heritage constraints within 500m of the route. Of these, five will be impacted directly, two will be impacted indirectly and 34 will have no predicted impact,” according to the EIS.
For the 10 sites that would be affected, the potential impact is rated as “potentially significant” for three, “moderate” for two, “slight” for another two and “no predicted impact” for one.
The remaining two are “areas of undetermined archaeological potential”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Today is the last day for making submissions to An Bord Pleanála, which will adjudicate on the scheme under the 2006 Strategic Infrastructure Act.
Depending on the number of objections, the board may decide to hold an oral hearing.
The proposed route, running east of Slane, is being opposed by the newly formed Save Newgrange campaign, led by Vincent Salafia, who was prominent in the protracted struggle against the M3 motorway because of its proximity to the Hill of Tara.
Yesterday, Mr Salafia called on An Bord Pleanála to extend the deadline, arguing that the public notice was inadequate, that more time was needed by the public and that access to information on the project had been “unreasonably curtailed”.
He said Save Newgrange had lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission, alleging the public consultation process was “flawed” and calling on the commission to intervene so the deadline could be extended for 90 days.
The planned new section of the N2 is 3.5km long and would cross the river Boyne on a new bridge at a location 1.1km to the east of the existing Slane Bridge, which has been the scene of several traffic incidents involving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
The frequency and severity of these incidents have been reduced since 2002, when the county council introduced extra traffic signals and an overhead gantry on the steeper southbound approach to the bridge, to control HGVs.
It is estimated that some 1,600 HGVs pass through the centre of Slane village every day. The volume of such traffic on the N2 led local residents to campaign for a ban on HGVs in Slane, and this was adopted by the county council in April 2009.
The resolution was not implemented because of fears that it “could have serious consequences for Meath County Council in terms of possible legal exposure, delivery delays and business frustration”, according to director of services Eugene Cummins.
The environmental impact statement (EIS) on the bypass proposal says it would remove through-traffic from the existing N2 through Slane, improving the village’s environment as well as giving an “improved level of service” on the route.
However, it concedes that the new stretch of the N2 route would be “just over 500 metres from the Unesco World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne, comprising the three main prehistoric sites [of] Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth”, on the north bank of the Boyne.
“The assessment identified 44 archaeological and cultural heritage constraints within 500m of the route. Of these, five will be impacted directly, two will be impacted indirectly and 34 will have no predicted impact,” according to the EIS.
For the 10 sites that would be affected, the potential impact is rated as “potentially significant” for three, “moderate” for two, “slight” for another two and “no predicted impact” for one.
The remaining two are “areas of undetermined archaeological potential”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
LOCAL AREA PLAN FOR DUNBOYNE/CLONEE/PACE
Meath County Council proposes to prepare a Local Area Plan for Dunboyne/Clonee/Pace.
Submissions must be made no later than 3.30pm on Monday 8th December 2008.
bps planning consultants is a firm of professional town planners who can make submissions on your behalf. Please call Brendan or Tony on 0404-66060 or email:
admin@buckplanning.ie. For further details about bps visit www.buckplanning.ie
Submissions must be made no later than 3.30pm on Monday 8th December 2008.
bps planning consultants is a firm of professional town planners who can make submissions on your behalf. Please call Brendan or Tony on 0404-66060 or email:
admin@buckplanning.ie. For further details about bps visit www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
€65m stadium plan hits NRA roadblock
A NEW 10,000-seater soccer stadium plan has been branded "premature" by the National Roads Authority (NRA) because the motorway junction beside it is expected to be the starting point of a huge new ring road.
Earlier this year, Meath County Council agreed to contravene its development plan so permission could be granted for the €65m Drogheda United stadium, leisure centre, retail units and a motorway service station. The 25-hectare site is on the southside of Drogheda within the Co Meath boundary. It is on the Drogheda to Duleek road and beside the Duleek road junction with the M1.
An Bord Pleanala is not expected to make a decision until later this year.
The NRA appeal is the only one against permission and its submission says the proposed €2bn Dublin Outer Orbital Road linking Drogheda to Naas "is likely to begin at the M1/R152 Duleek road junction".
The route is a key objective of the regional planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area and the planning application "is premature pending determination of this route", argues the NRA.
Traffic
The NRA says the junction would have to be upgraded to support the traffic flow described in the application. Because the junction is part of the motorway public private partnership (PPP) contract, it "will be much more difficult complex and expensive" to upgrade.
Meanwhile, Councillor Tommy Byrne (FF) called on Drogheda borough council to "write to the NRA and ask them to withdraw their objection".
Mr Byrne did not get the support of his fellow councillors but they did agree to put their support for planning permission in writing. At Drogheda United's current ground, United Park, planning permission was secured for 110 residential units, but that too is under appeal.
Elaine Keogh
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Earlier this year, Meath County Council agreed to contravene its development plan so permission could be granted for the €65m Drogheda United stadium, leisure centre, retail units and a motorway service station. The 25-hectare site is on the southside of Drogheda within the Co Meath boundary. It is on the Drogheda to Duleek road and beside the Duleek road junction with the M1.
An Bord Pleanala is not expected to make a decision until later this year.
The NRA appeal is the only one against permission and its submission says the proposed €2bn Dublin Outer Orbital Road linking Drogheda to Naas "is likely to begin at the M1/R152 Duleek road junction".
The route is a key objective of the regional planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area and the planning application "is premature pending determination of this route", argues the NRA.
Traffic
The NRA says the junction would have to be upgraded to support the traffic flow described in the application. Because the junction is part of the motorway public private partnership (PPP) contract, it "will be much more difficult complex and expensive" to upgrade.
Meanwhile, Councillor Tommy Byrne (FF) called on Drogheda borough council to "write to the NRA and ask them to withdraw their objection".
Mr Byrne did not get the support of his fellow councillors but they did agree to put their support for planning permission in writing. At Drogheda United's current ground, United Park, planning permission was secured for 110 residential units, but that too is under appeal.
Elaine Keogh
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
€65m stadium plan hits NRA roadblock
A NEW 10,000-seater soccer stadium plan has been branded "premature" by the National Roads Authority (NRA) because the motorway junction beside it is expected to be the starting point of a huge new ring road.
Earlier this year, Meath County Council agreed to contravene its development plan so permission could be granted for the €65m Drogheda United stadium, leisure centre, retail units and a motorway service station. The 25-hectare site is on the southside of Drogheda within the Co Meath boundary. It is on the Drogheda to Duleek road and beside the Duleek road junction with the M1.
An Bord Pleanala is not expected to make a decision until later this year.
The NRA appeal is the only one against permission and its submission says the proposed €2bn Dublin Outer Orbital Road linking Drogheda to Naas "is likely to begin at the M1/R152 Duleek road junction".
The route is a key objective of the regional planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area and the planning application "is premature pending determination of this route", argues the NRA.
Traffic
The NRA says the junction would have to be upgraded to support the traffic flow described in the application. Because the junction is part of the motorway public private partnership (PPP) contract, it "will be much more difficult complex and expensive" to upgrade.
Meanwhile, Councillor Tommy Byrne (FF) called on Drogheda borough council to "write to the NRA and ask them to withdraw their objection".
Mr Byrne did not get the support of his fellow councillors but they did agree to put their support for planning permission in writing. At Drogheda United's current ground, United Park, planning permission was secured for 110 residential units, but that too is under appeal.
Elaine Keogh
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Earlier this year, Meath County Council agreed to contravene its development plan so permission could be granted for the €65m Drogheda United stadium, leisure centre, retail units and a motorway service station. The 25-hectare site is on the southside of Drogheda within the Co Meath boundary. It is on the Drogheda to Duleek road and beside the Duleek road junction with the M1.
An Bord Pleanala is not expected to make a decision until later this year.
The NRA appeal is the only one against permission and its submission says the proposed €2bn Dublin Outer Orbital Road linking Drogheda to Naas "is likely to begin at the M1/R152 Duleek road junction".
The route is a key objective of the regional planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area and the planning application "is premature pending determination of this route", argues the NRA.
Traffic
The NRA says the junction would have to be upgraded to support the traffic flow described in the application. Because the junction is part of the motorway public private partnership (PPP) contract, it "will be much more difficult complex and expensive" to upgrade.
Meanwhile, Councillor Tommy Byrne (FF) called on Drogheda borough council to "write to the NRA and ask them to withdraw their objection".
Mr Byrne did not get the support of his fellow councillors but they did agree to put their support for planning permission in writing. At Drogheda United's current ground, United Park, planning permission was secured for 110 residential units, but that too is under appeal.
Elaine Keogh
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 29 September 2008
Group challenges Meath council’s area plan
Seventeen developers and landowners in Meath will lodge a joint submission tomorrow urging the local council to revise a controversial area development plan.
All members of the group - who own an estimated 300 acres in the area - have an interest in what are known as the Bryanstown lands.
Those lands had been earmarked for possible development in a major regional planning strategy.
The recent plan, however, reversed that earlier decision. The new plan has also earmarked lands for fast-track development which were previously designated for long-term development.
A number of serious allegations regarding the way in which the planning authority has operated were made to the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, and minister of state Dick Roche.
Dublin developer Bill Doyle has threatened to take a High Court action over the affair, and Roche wrote to environment minister John Gormley urging him to instigate a probe.
In his letter, Roche said that the proposals which the council came up with clearly disadvantaged some land owners in the area.
Roche, a former environment minister, accused the council of behaving in an ‘‘inexplicable’’ fashion.
The future of Drogheda United FC may also hinge on the final decision.
The club’s management had finalised plans with property developer Bill Doyle, who was to build a new €35 million, 10,000-seater stadium on a site in Bryanstown, in exchange for the club’s existing stadium at United Park.
However, those plans and the proposal to build a link road through the area will be scuppered by the proposed South Drogheda Environs local area plan, which zoned a sizeable part of the Bryanstown area for open space and light industrial use.
Drogheda United, Doyle and a number of Bryanstown landowners claim they were given repeated assurances by the council that it supported the proposed stadium and the rezoning the lands for residential use.
‘‘It was on that basis that we paid €120,000 for the preparation of an area action plan,” said one landowner. ‘‘That was done in consultation with the council in 2003,yetwe have faced continuous obstacles.”
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
All members of the group - who own an estimated 300 acres in the area - have an interest in what are known as the Bryanstown lands.
Those lands had been earmarked for possible development in a major regional planning strategy.
The recent plan, however, reversed that earlier decision. The new plan has also earmarked lands for fast-track development which were previously designated for long-term development.
A number of serious allegations regarding the way in which the planning authority has operated were made to the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, and minister of state Dick Roche.
Dublin developer Bill Doyle has threatened to take a High Court action over the affair, and Roche wrote to environment minister John Gormley urging him to instigate a probe.
In his letter, Roche said that the proposals which the council came up with clearly disadvantaged some land owners in the area.
Roche, a former environment minister, accused the council of behaving in an ‘‘inexplicable’’ fashion.
The future of Drogheda United FC may also hinge on the final decision.
The club’s management had finalised plans with property developer Bill Doyle, who was to build a new €35 million, 10,000-seater stadium on a site in Bryanstown, in exchange for the club’s existing stadium at United Park.
However, those plans and the proposal to build a link road through the area will be scuppered by the proposed South Drogheda Environs local area plan, which zoned a sizeable part of the Bryanstown area for open space and light industrial use.
Drogheda United, Doyle and a number of Bryanstown landowners claim they were given repeated assurances by the council that it supported the proposed stadium and the rezoning the lands for residential use.
‘‘It was on that basis that we paid €120,000 for the preparation of an area action plan,” said one landowner. ‘‘That was done in consultation with the council in 2003,yetwe have faced continuous obstacles.”
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 15 September 2008
Work starts on building EUR130m waste incinerator
WORK on the controversial waste incinerator at Carranstown,Duleek-Ireland's first commercial thermal treatment plant - finally began last week, almost a decade after it was first proposed.
The EUR130 million incinerator, which has been bitterly opposed in a 10-year battle by the local community, will take two-and-a-half years to build and will process 200,000 tonnes of municipal waste each year.
Work began last week on site preparation and extending the entrance to the site at Carranstown, outside Duleek.
The erection of a hoarding, the provision of an additional traffic lane to facilitate site traffic and other preparatory works will continue over the next few weeks.
Indaver has appointed John Sisk and Son Ltd as main contractor for the preliminary works, which will last three months.
An international consortium of French companies Litwin and LAB and the Danish company Volund will build the state-of-the-art waste-to-energy facility. This consortium is also expected to include an Irish construction company to assist in further construction work; the Irish contractor will be appointed in the coming months.
Construction of the project is valued at EUR130 million and is expected to take two-and-a-half years, with the waste-to-energy plant set to be operational from the start of 2011, and employing 60 people.
Expressing his dismay that work has started on the project, Pat O'Brien of local campaign group, the No Incineration Alliance, said the incinerator would have a serious and negative effect on everybody's health and wellbeing.
However, as it was going to built, he said the very least they could do was fight for proper controls and regulations to be independently enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
He called on Environment Minister John Gormley to ensure that an independent baseline study of all existing toxins within the region be completed without delay, "This would give us a strong indication of what levels are at now, and if we have any problems with the incinerator in future, at least have something to compare it with," he said.
Mr O'Brien said the cost of the independent study could be funded by all the companies involved, with heavy industries in the region including Indaver, Irish Cement, GreenStar and others contributing.
"We have been calling for baseline studies plus a proper detailed health impact assessment for some time now and Minister Gormley should ensure they are completed as soon as possible and certainly before construction is completed," Mr O'Brien added.
He also called for a permanent EPA regional office within this area to help to give confidence to local residents in relation to proper monitoring and regulation of the facility. He also demanded that the EPA be properly funded and staffed, and that it would have the legal powers to do there job properly.
"At the moment, they are seen as a toothless monster, with no real powers to do the job they are meant to be doing," he claimed.
The incinerator project was the most controversial planning application ever to come before Meath County Council, with more than 4,000 individual objections to the original planning application and a petition against the plan signed by 27,000 people.
Among the original objectors were former Taoiseach John Bruton, An Taisce, the No Incineration Alliance, local councillors and Northern Ireland Unionists.
Planning permission for the development was granted by Meath County Council in 2001 and, the following year, Bord Pleanala heard a large number of objections during a lengthy oral hearing, but gave the project the green light in 2003 against the advice of its senior planning inspector, James Carroll.
A further planning application to expand the incinerator was approved by Bord Pleanala last year. Indaver had applied to increase the plant's size by one-third, enabling it to take 200,000 tonnes of waste a year, rather than the previous total of 150,000 and to increase the proposed height of the chimney stack from 40 to 65 metres.
A licence to operate an incinerator was granted to the company by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 and, last year, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the company, following a lengthy legal battle against the proposal by local resident, Eric Martin.
Ann Casey
Meath Chronicle
www.buckplanning.ie
The EUR130 million incinerator, which has been bitterly opposed in a 10-year battle by the local community, will take two-and-a-half years to build and will process 200,000 tonnes of municipal waste each year.
Work began last week on site preparation and extending the entrance to the site at Carranstown, outside Duleek.
The erection of a hoarding, the provision of an additional traffic lane to facilitate site traffic and other preparatory works will continue over the next few weeks.
Indaver has appointed John Sisk and Son Ltd as main contractor for the preliminary works, which will last three months.
An international consortium of French companies Litwin and LAB and the Danish company Volund will build the state-of-the-art waste-to-energy facility. This consortium is also expected to include an Irish construction company to assist in further construction work; the Irish contractor will be appointed in the coming months.
Construction of the project is valued at EUR130 million and is expected to take two-and-a-half years, with the waste-to-energy plant set to be operational from the start of 2011, and employing 60 people.
Expressing his dismay that work has started on the project, Pat O'Brien of local campaign group, the No Incineration Alliance, said the incinerator would have a serious and negative effect on everybody's health and wellbeing.
However, as it was going to built, he said the very least they could do was fight for proper controls and regulations to be independently enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
He called on Environment Minister John Gormley to ensure that an independent baseline study of all existing toxins within the region be completed without delay, "This would give us a strong indication of what levels are at now, and if we have any problems with the incinerator in future, at least have something to compare it with," he said.
Mr O'Brien said the cost of the independent study could be funded by all the companies involved, with heavy industries in the region including Indaver, Irish Cement, GreenStar and others contributing.
"We have been calling for baseline studies plus a proper detailed health impact assessment for some time now and Minister Gormley should ensure they are completed as soon as possible and certainly before construction is completed," Mr O'Brien added.
He also called for a permanent EPA regional office within this area to help to give confidence to local residents in relation to proper monitoring and regulation of the facility. He also demanded that the EPA be properly funded and staffed, and that it would have the legal powers to do there job properly.
"At the moment, they are seen as a toothless monster, with no real powers to do the job they are meant to be doing," he claimed.
The incinerator project was the most controversial planning application ever to come before Meath County Council, with more than 4,000 individual objections to the original planning application and a petition against the plan signed by 27,000 people.
Among the original objectors were former Taoiseach John Bruton, An Taisce, the No Incineration Alliance, local councillors and Northern Ireland Unionists.
Planning permission for the development was granted by Meath County Council in 2001 and, the following year, Bord Pleanala heard a large number of objections during a lengthy oral hearing, but gave the project the green light in 2003 against the advice of its senior planning inspector, James Carroll.
A further planning application to expand the incinerator was approved by Bord Pleanala last year. Indaver had applied to increase the plant's size by one-third, enabling it to take 200,000 tonnes of waste a year, rather than the previous total of 150,000 and to increase the proposed height of the chimney stack from 40 to 65 metres.
A licence to operate an incinerator was granted to the company by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 and, last year, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the company, following a lengthy legal battle against the proposal by local resident, Eric Martin.
Ann Casey
Meath Chronicle
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Politicians push for Drogheda development planning probe
The former environment minister Dick Roche and a local politician have called for an inquiry into recent planning decisions in Co Meath, after a Dublin developer threatened to take a multi-million euro High Court case against Meath County Council.
Dick Roche, Minister of State, confirmed he had written to environment minister John Gormley last week calling for a formal investigation.
Serious allegations regarding the way in which the planning authority has operated were made to Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Roche, who has expressed deep concern.
The allegations were made after the recent publication of the South Drogheda Environs Local Area Plan.
‘‘I am aware of the concerns that have been raised,” said Roche. ‘‘I was reluctant to get directly involved in this affair because of a family connection, but having been approached by local public representatives I feel the complaints are serious and warrant investigation.”
Shane McEntee, Fine Gael TD, has also written to the Taoiseach calling for a planning inspector to be appointed. He wants the planning decisions made in Meath over the past ten years to be examined. It is understood that this suggestion is under serious consideration.
McEntee believes there has been a pattern of worrying decisions and said the proposed Local Area Plan would scupper ‘‘the chances of Drogheda United building a new 10,000 seater state-of-the-art stadium in east Meath, as planned. What has been going on is a disgrace,’’ McEntee said.
The directors of Drogheda United had agreed a deal with Dublin developer Bill Doyle, in which Doyle would build a new stadium close to lands he purchased in Bryanstown, south Drogheda, in exchange for their existing stadium at United Park. Doyle spent an estimated €110 million on buying approximately140 acres of land in Bryanstown in recent years.
Under the proposed planning strategy for the greater Drogheda area - commissioned by Drogheda Borough Council, Louth County Council and Meath County Council - the Bryanstown area was earmarked for large-scale development including residential homes.
Developers and councillors often work together to deliver common objectives and sources close to Doyle claimed he had been given verbal assurances by planners that the land would be zoned residential, in line with the planning strategy. This was also reiterated by a number of senior officials at Drogheda United. Doyle is now believed to be considering legal action.
On that basis Doyle bought up land in Bryanstown, which is about three miles south of Drogheda town. In a previous interview with this newspaper he said he had plans to build 2,500 houses, a stadium for Drogheda United, as well as four kilometres of road linking theN1 with theM1.
His lands will now be zoned for open space and light industrial use, according to the proposed Local Area Plan that has just been published.
Other landowners in Bryanstown claimed the proposed Local Area Plan was ‘‘very materially different’’ to the planning strategy outlined for the area. The strategy is not a statutory document, however. Vincent Hoey, Drogheda United chairman, expressed huge frustration at what he described as a ‘‘major setback for the club.
‘‘We were leading the way for soccer in Ireland. We have been delayed by the planners for years and the situation has become intolerable. We had an agreement with a developer and we were assured by local planners that we would get planning. For us, it is checkmate,” said Hoey.
A spokeswoman for Meath County Council said it was ‘‘not aware of any investigation currently taking place or pending’’. She added that the council was satisfied that the plan has been developed in accordance with all the statutory requirements.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
Dick Roche, Minister of State, confirmed he had written to environment minister John Gormley last week calling for a formal investigation.
Serious allegations regarding the way in which the planning authority has operated were made to Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Roche, who has expressed deep concern.
The allegations were made after the recent publication of the South Drogheda Environs Local Area Plan.
‘‘I am aware of the concerns that have been raised,” said Roche. ‘‘I was reluctant to get directly involved in this affair because of a family connection, but having been approached by local public representatives I feel the complaints are serious and warrant investigation.”
Shane McEntee, Fine Gael TD, has also written to the Taoiseach calling for a planning inspector to be appointed. He wants the planning decisions made in Meath over the past ten years to be examined. It is understood that this suggestion is under serious consideration.
McEntee believes there has been a pattern of worrying decisions and said the proposed Local Area Plan would scupper ‘‘the chances of Drogheda United building a new 10,000 seater state-of-the-art stadium in east Meath, as planned. What has been going on is a disgrace,’’ McEntee said.
The directors of Drogheda United had agreed a deal with Dublin developer Bill Doyle, in which Doyle would build a new stadium close to lands he purchased in Bryanstown, south Drogheda, in exchange for their existing stadium at United Park. Doyle spent an estimated €110 million on buying approximately140 acres of land in Bryanstown in recent years.
Under the proposed planning strategy for the greater Drogheda area - commissioned by Drogheda Borough Council, Louth County Council and Meath County Council - the Bryanstown area was earmarked for large-scale development including residential homes.
Developers and councillors often work together to deliver common objectives and sources close to Doyle claimed he had been given verbal assurances by planners that the land would be zoned residential, in line with the planning strategy. This was also reiterated by a number of senior officials at Drogheda United. Doyle is now believed to be considering legal action.
On that basis Doyle bought up land in Bryanstown, which is about three miles south of Drogheda town. In a previous interview with this newspaper he said he had plans to build 2,500 houses, a stadium for Drogheda United, as well as four kilometres of road linking theN1 with theM1.
His lands will now be zoned for open space and light industrial use, according to the proposed Local Area Plan that has just been published.
Other landowners in Bryanstown claimed the proposed Local Area Plan was ‘‘very materially different’’ to the planning strategy outlined for the area. The strategy is not a statutory document, however. Vincent Hoey, Drogheda United chairman, expressed huge frustration at what he described as a ‘‘major setback for the club.
‘‘We were leading the way for soccer in Ireland. We have been delayed by the planners for years and the situation has become intolerable. We had an agreement with a developer and we were assured by local planners that we would get planning. For us, it is checkmate,” said Hoey.
A spokeswoman for Meath County Council said it was ‘‘not aware of any investigation currently taking place or pending’’. She added that the council was satisfied that the plan has been developed in accordance with all the statutory requirements.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 17 March 2008
Controversial quarry told to quit by Meath council
The council issued an enforcement notice on Thursday telling Kilsaran Quarries to cease all quarry related operations including blasting, digging and excavation. We are delighted that Meath County Council has finally seen fit to take action,' said residents' spokesman Jon Pierson. Our lives have been made a misery, our homes shake from the blasting. There are up to 600 trucks a day travelling to and from the quarries and the noise from the stone crushing is horrendous,' he added.
The previous Monday, March 3rd, six Bellewstown families took an action against the quarries in the High Court.
In court they claimed both the Kilsaran and Keegan quarries in Bellewstown are unauthorised, under section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
The High Court has given the quarries until March 25th to produce answering affidavits. We expect to be back in court on April 7th to get a hearing date, the resident's spokesman explained.
Local councillor Eoin Holmes is ‘thrilled' at the council's move. ‘I know they did not take this action lightly. None of us are against quarrying but we cannot have quarries riding roughshod over planning regulations and communities,' he said.
While the council has issued notice telling Kilsaran to quit all operations, this does not mean that quarrying has ceased in Bellewstown. The company has 21 days to respond to the council's notice.
A council spokesman would not give the grounds for issuing the cessation notice.
However, the spokesman did say that the council will reserve its position on further action until it has had an opportunity to consider any submissions from the quarry.
A spokeswoman for Kilsaran Quarries declined to comment on the issue when contacted by the Drogheda Independent.
Drogheda Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
The previous Monday, March 3rd, six Bellewstown families took an action against the quarries in the High Court.
In court they claimed both the Kilsaran and Keegan quarries in Bellewstown are unauthorised, under section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
The High Court has given the quarries until March 25th to produce answering affidavits. We expect to be back in court on April 7th to get a hearing date, the resident's spokesman explained.
Local councillor Eoin Holmes is ‘thrilled' at the council's move. ‘I know they did not take this action lightly. None of us are against quarrying but we cannot have quarries riding roughshod over planning regulations and communities,' he said.
While the council has issued notice telling Kilsaran to quit all operations, this does not mean that quarrying has ceased in Bellewstown. The company has 21 days to respond to the council's notice.
A council spokesman would not give the grounds for issuing the cessation notice.
However, the spokesman did say that the council will reserve its position on further action until it has had an opportunity to consider any submissions from the quarry.
A spokeswoman for Kilsaran Quarries declined to comment on the issue when contacted by the Drogheda Independent.
Drogheda Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Council to seek court order to demolish house
Meath County Council is expected to seek a court order shortly for the demolition of a large two-storey house near Navan which was built without planning permission.
The council is expected to reactivate earlier legal proceedings for the demolition of the house near Bohermeen. This follows the refusal of An Bord Pleanála to grant retention permission for the unauthorised development.
The house was built by the owner, Michael Murray, a local plumber who owns a plant hire business. At 588sq metres in size, it was about twice as large as the house proposed in the original planning application. Mr Murray declined to comment on the case.
Last November, An Bord Pleanála refused retention permission for the house, which is in a cul-de-sac at Faughanhill. It ruled that the house was out of character for the area and represented an "unduly prominent and incongruous" feature on the landscape. It would also give rise to excessive development in a rural area lacking services and would set an undesirable precedent for further development, the board found.
The board rejected arguments made on behalf of Mr Murray by planning consultant Seán Lucy, who said his client was born and reared in the family home less than half a mile from the house under dispute. He said Mr Murray had applied for planning permission for a house for himself and his family on three occasions on three different sites, but was refused.
Mr Lucy said Mr Murray had built the house "in desperation" because he needed a home for his wife and three children. His client recognised that he was "remiss", but pleaded that this should not prejudice his case.
The An Bord Pleanála inspector found that Mr Murray met the criteria for local needs under the guidelines for sustainable rural housing and ruled there were no traffic issues. However, he claimed permission would place excessive pressure on waste water treatment in an unserviced rural area and so would be prejudicial to public health.
An Taisce (Meath branch) had appealed the application for retention permission, saying it could set a dangerous precedent. Not only had the original planning refusal been ignored, but the house built was considerably larger than the original application, it said. The area has seen a number of planning applications, most of which have been refused.
A council spokesman declined to comment on the case as it was the subject of legal proceedings which were started after the council refused Mr Murray's initial planning application on the site in May 2006.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The council is expected to reactivate earlier legal proceedings for the demolition of the house near Bohermeen. This follows the refusal of An Bord Pleanála to grant retention permission for the unauthorised development.
The house was built by the owner, Michael Murray, a local plumber who owns a plant hire business. At 588sq metres in size, it was about twice as large as the house proposed in the original planning application. Mr Murray declined to comment on the case.
Last November, An Bord Pleanála refused retention permission for the house, which is in a cul-de-sac at Faughanhill. It ruled that the house was out of character for the area and represented an "unduly prominent and incongruous" feature on the landscape. It would also give rise to excessive development in a rural area lacking services and would set an undesirable precedent for further development, the board found.
The board rejected arguments made on behalf of Mr Murray by planning consultant Seán Lucy, who said his client was born and reared in the family home less than half a mile from the house under dispute. He said Mr Murray had applied for planning permission for a house for himself and his family on three occasions on three different sites, but was refused.
Mr Lucy said Mr Murray had built the house "in desperation" because he needed a home for his wife and three children. His client recognised that he was "remiss", but pleaded that this should not prejudice his case.
The An Bord Pleanála inspector found that Mr Murray met the criteria for local needs under the guidelines for sustainable rural housing and ruled there were no traffic issues. However, he claimed permission would place excessive pressure on waste water treatment in an unserviced rural area and so would be prejudicial to public health.
An Taisce (Meath branch) had appealed the application for retention permission, saying it could set a dangerous precedent. Not only had the original planning refusal been ignored, but the house built was considerably larger than the original application, it said. The area has seen a number of planning applications, most of which have been refused.
A council spokesman declined to comment on the case as it was the subject of legal proceedings which were started after the council refused Mr Murray's initial planning application on the site in May 2006.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Saturday, 24 November 2007
Prevent destruction of Slane' plea over councils proposal
CONSERVATION groups and residents in Slane are furious at a proposal which they fear will lead to construction of housing units in the village centre on land containing protected structures.
They have called for support at a public meeting next week to "prevent the destruction of Slane".
Their concerns arise from proposals in a variation of the new Meath County Council Development Plan, 2007-13. Known as the 'order of priority', the controversial proposal is a response to Dept of the Environment anxieties about the huge amount of land in Meath zoned for residential use although not yet built upon.
It offers a blueprint for the order in which land in 30 towns and villages around Meath, including Slane, could be released for planning applications up to 2013. '
The site's at issue in Slane are in the gardens of the former parochial house and on ground between this historic structure and the local church, as well as within the Cillrian and Mount Charles Lodge sites.
The Boyne Valley Trust (BVT), Slane Combined Residents Association (SCRA) and the Meath branch of An Taisce already have voiced grave concerns.
The BVT is hosting a public meeting in the ConyngHam Arms Hotel, Slane, next Tuesday, 27th November, at 8.30pm and has urged the public to attend to provide support "to prevent the destruction of Slane".
The new county development plan already has identified the need for 65 extra residential units in the village up to 2013, according to the SCRA. It is the naming of the location for the units, 30 in the grounds of Cillrian and Mount Charles Lodge and 35 in the gardens of the old parochial house and dwellings between this and the church, that has deeply perturbed and angered the residents and other interests in Slane.
According to the SCRA, these sites largely comprise protected structures, are within the core of the Slane village Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) and were considered "unsuitable for significant development within the last 12 months".
In addition, the number of houses seem out of scale with Slane's character and quality, would damage "irretrievably" the unique heritage quality of the village's designed integration of woodland, trees and buildings, they say. The group adds that the proposal overlooks a large land bank zoned for residential development in the 2001-2007 plan and does not take account of "serious infrastructural deficiencies" in the area, in terms of water and sewerage.
The BVT is "outraged", saying that it has complained to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley. It understands that no Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been carried out.
A Meath An Taisce spokesperson was concerned on broadly similar grounds.
Meath County Council said that the proposed variation was subject to much consultation with members at area level before the full council resolved to put it on public display at the October meeting. The area council deliberations took place in private.
A county council statement added that the order of priority effectively identified available lands in each settlement which were "considered most suitable for release". This meant that priority would be given for the quantum of units available.
However, it added: "It should be noted that the identification of lands in phase one does not assume the lands will/can be developed upon immediately, as each planning application received by the planning authority for units on these lands will be assessed on its own merits and will be dependent upon the availability of necessary infrastructure. This is clearly set out in the supporting document for the Order of Priority currently on display". Regarding the SEA issue, the council said the law required that a variation be screened to ascertain if a full SEA was needed. The screening report prepared concluded that it was not required as the proposed variation sought to "phase the release of existing residentially zoned lands and as such will have a neutral impact on the wider environmental resources". The report was submitted to the prescribed bodies.
The order of priority variation (written text including the screening report and the maps) for all the 30 locations involved is available for inspection during normal working hours at the council's main offices, including the new location of the Meath planning department at Abbey Mall, Abbey Road, Navan.
Meath Chronicle
www.buckplanning.ie
They have called for support at a public meeting next week to "prevent the destruction of Slane".
Their concerns arise from proposals in a variation of the new Meath County Council Development Plan, 2007-13. Known as the 'order of priority', the controversial proposal is a response to Dept of the Environment anxieties about the huge amount of land in Meath zoned for residential use although not yet built upon.
It offers a blueprint for the order in which land in 30 towns and villages around Meath, including Slane, could be released for planning applications up to 2013. '
The site's at issue in Slane are in the gardens of the former parochial house and on ground between this historic structure and the local church, as well as within the Cillrian and Mount Charles Lodge sites.
The Boyne Valley Trust (BVT), Slane Combined Residents Association (SCRA) and the Meath branch of An Taisce already have voiced grave concerns.
The BVT is hosting a public meeting in the ConyngHam Arms Hotel, Slane, next Tuesday, 27th November, at 8.30pm and has urged the public to attend to provide support "to prevent the destruction of Slane".
The new county development plan already has identified the need for 65 extra residential units in the village up to 2013, according to the SCRA. It is the naming of the location for the units, 30 in the grounds of Cillrian and Mount Charles Lodge and 35 in the gardens of the old parochial house and dwellings between this and the church, that has deeply perturbed and angered the residents and other interests in Slane.
According to the SCRA, these sites largely comprise protected structures, are within the core of the Slane village Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) and were considered "unsuitable for significant development within the last 12 months".
In addition, the number of houses seem out of scale with Slane's character and quality, would damage "irretrievably" the unique heritage quality of the village's designed integration of woodland, trees and buildings, they say. The group adds that the proposal overlooks a large land bank zoned for residential development in the 2001-2007 plan and does not take account of "serious infrastructural deficiencies" in the area, in terms of water and sewerage.
The BVT is "outraged", saying that it has complained to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley. It understands that no Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been carried out.
A Meath An Taisce spokesperson was concerned on broadly similar grounds.
Meath County Council said that the proposed variation was subject to much consultation with members at area level before the full council resolved to put it on public display at the October meeting. The area council deliberations took place in private.
A county council statement added that the order of priority effectively identified available lands in each settlement which were "considered most suitable for release". This meant that priority would be given for the quantum of units available.
However, it added: "It should be noted that the identification of lands in phase one does not assume the lands will/can be developed upon immediately, as each planning application received by the planning authority for units on these lands will be assessed on its own merits and will be dependent upon the availability of necessary infrastructure. This is clearly set out in the supporting document for the Order of Priority currently on display". Regarding the SEA issue, the council said the law required that a variation be screened to ascertain if a full SEA was needed. The screening report prepared concluded that it was not required as the proposed variation sought to "phase the release of existing residentially zoned lands and as such will have a neutral impact on the wider environmental resources". The report was submitted to the prescribed bodies.
The order of priority variation (written text including the screening report and the maps) for all the 30 locations involved is available for inspection during normal working hours at the council's main offices, including the new location of the Meath planning department at Abbey Mall, Abbey Road, Navan.
Meath Chronicle
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
Ancient sites dismantled along M3 route
A series of ancient underground buildings from the early Christian era have been dismantled in recent days to make way for the controversial M3 motorway.
The buildings, on one of the largest historical sites discovered along the proposed route, were logged and then removed by a team of archaeologists in advance of work on the road.
Dating back 1,300 years, they are the first stone archaeological features to be taken down as part of the motorway project. The move has led to a series of protests. Yesterday historians and archaeologists attached to the Save Tara campaign said the buildings, just north of Dunshaughlin, could be part of a royal site and therefore directly linked to the Hill of Tara.
However, archaeologists working for the National Roads Authority (NRA) said buildings of this type were relatively common in Ireland and that it had been meticulously logged before the dismantling began.
Described as a souterrain, the structure consisted of three beehive chambers linked by passages. They would have been used for storage and as refuges in case of attack.
The buildings, which were discovered in 2005, date back to the seventh century and were in use up to the 13th Century.
Located at Roestown, just north of Dunshaughlin, the souterrain was part of a much larger ancient complex.
The discovery of glass beads and carvings on bone indicate that some manufacturing activity could have been ongoing on the site at some stage.
Mary Deevy, project archaeologist with the NRA, said the removal of the stone buildings were part of a series of similar excavation work along the route.
"It's completely standard archaeological practice," she said, adding that three dimensional laser images of the chambers had been taken before they were removed.
She said souterrains were relatively common in Ireland and that 3,500 are officially listed, the majority of them in Co Louth.
She said Roestown was not listed as a national monument, and that the excavation and removal had been carried out in accordance with the directions handed down in 2005 by the Minister for the Environment Dick Roche.
However, Celtic scholar Dr Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin, of the Save Tara campaign said the discovery of artefacts, including gaming board, indicated a "very high class site, probably inhabited by a king". Under Celtic laws the use of such gaming boards was confined to royalty.
She said Roestown was one of four major ancient sites discovered along the route and backs up claims by various experts that the area of royal Tara was much larger than the hill itself and extended along the Tara Skryne Valley, through the proposed route of the motorway.
"What the archaeologists working for the NRA have uncovered are the living places and the burial places of the people associated with Tara," she said.
It comes as campaigners prepare to use St Patrick's weekend to highlight the issue of Tara and the impact of the planned road on the archaeology of the area. Although the saint is not recorded as having visited Tara, he is directly associated with the area through various legends, such as the lighting of a Pascal fire on the hill of Slane nearby.
Vincent Salafia of the TaraWatch group said Roestown should have been listed as a national monument, and accused the NRA of having "rushed in and demolished the site" before it had a chance of receiving protected status. "This is the St Patrick's Day gift that the Irish Government has given to Irish people around the world," he said. "While the Government Ministers are swanning around the globe preaching the gospel of climate change, at home they are advancing one of the most environmentally and culturally damaging projects ever conceived."
Liam Reid
© 2007 The Irish Times
The buildings, on one of the largest historical sites discovered along the proposed route, were logged and then removed by a team of archaeologists in advance of work on the road.
Dating back 1,300 years, they are the first stone archaeological features to be taken down as part of the motorway project. The move has led to a series of protests. Yesterday historians and archaeologists attached to the Save Tara campaign said the buildings, just north of Dunshaughlin, could be part of a royal site and therefore directly linked to the Hill of Tara.
However, archaeologists working for the National Roads Authority (NRA) said buildings of this type were relatively common in Ireland and that it had been meticulously logged before the dismantling began.
Described as a souterrain, the structure consisted of three beehive chambers linked by passages. They would have been used for storage and as refuges in case of attack.
The buildings, which were discovered in 2005, date back to the seventh century and were in use up to the 13th Century.
Located at Roestown, just north of Dunshaughlin, the souterrain was part of a much larger ancient complex.
The discovery of glass beads and carvings on bone indicate that some manufacturing activity could have been ongoing on the site at some stage.
Mary Deevy, project archaeologist with the NRA, said the removal of the stone buildings were part of a series of similar excavation work along the route.
"It's completely standard archaeological practice," she said, adding that three dimensional laser images of the chambers had been taken before they were removed.
She said souterrains were relatively common in Ireland and that 3,500 are officially listed, the majority of them in Co Louth.
She said Roestown was not listed as a national monument, and that the excavation and removal had been carried out in accordance with the directions handed down in 2005 by the Minister for the Environment Dick Roche.
However, Celtic scholar Dr Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin, of the Save Tara campaign said the discovery of artefacts, including gaming board, indicated a "very high class site, probably inhabited by a king". Under Celtic laws the use of such gaming boards was confined to royalty.
She said Roestown was one of four major ancient sites discovered along the route and backs up claims by various experts that the area of royal Tara was much larger than the hill itself and extended along the Tara Skryne Valley, through the proposed route of the motorway.
"What the archaeologists working for the NRA have uncovered are the living places and the burial places of the people associated with Tara," she said.
It comes as campaigners prepare to use St Patrick's weekend to highlight the issue of Tara and the impact of the planned road on the archaeology of the area. Although the saint is not recorded as having visited Tara, he is directly associated with the area through various legends, such as the lighting of a Pascal fire on the hill of Slane nearby.
Vincent Salafia of the TaraWatch group said Roestown should have been listed as a national monument, and accused the NRA of having "rushed in and demolished the site" before it had a chance of receiving protected status. "This is the St Patrick's Day gift that the Irish Government has given to Irish people around the world," he said. "While the Government Ministers are swanning around the globe preaching the gospel of climate change, at home they are advancing one of the most environmentally and culturally damaging projects ever conceived."
Liam Reid
© 2007 The Irish Times
Saturday, 10 March 2007
Council drops Headfort area change
Meath County Council has upheld the Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) designation of 299 hectares (718 acres) of land around Headfort House, outside Kells, following the withdrawal of an amendment to reduce it by more than 90 per cent.
The proposed reduction, tabled by Cllr John Farrelly (FG), had been adopted by 14 votes to three at a special council meeting last month when councillors were considering amendments to the draft Meath county development plan.
However, following objections by An Taisce, the Irish Georgian Society, Headfort Golf Club and local residents, Cllr Farrelly told the latest council meeting that he was not pursuing the proposal to reduce the size of Headfort ACA.
He complained about media coverage, including a report in The Irish Times last Tuesday which stated that a local landowner had offered Headfort Trust - which owns the internationally important house - €1 million if it did not object.
Trust chairman Dick Blakiston Houston described this allegation as "totally unfounded" and said the trust had submitted its own objection to Cllr Farrelly's proposal, with the aim of preserving the setting and visas of Headfort House.
Dermot Dix, headmaster of Headfort School, a private prep school which has been based in the house for more than 50 years, said: "We are all very pleased that the council has swiftly rejected Cllr Farrelly's proposal".
Cllr Michael Gallagher (SF) said it was clear that councillors who had originally supported the proposal "shied away from it" as a result of media coverage. "The article in The Irish Times played a major part in getting it changed."
On the wider issue of zoning under the Meath development plan, now officially adopted, the county council must now await the reaction of the Department of the Environment, which made it clear that too much land was being zoned.
In a submission on the plan, the department said "very firm measures" were required - including "dezoning" land in "unsuitable and unserviced locations" - if growth was to be managed "sustainably" towards a population of 180,000.
Given that the plan allows for an increase to a population of 210,000 by 2013, it would be open to Minister for the Environment Dick Roche to issue a directive under the 2000 Planning Act to require it to be brought into line with the department's wishes. Frank McDonald
© 2007 The Irish Times
The proposed reduction, tabled by Cllr John Farrelly (FG), had been adopted by 14 votes to three at a special council meeting last month when councillors were considering amendments to the draft Meath county development plan.
However, following objections by An Taisce, the Irish Georgian Society, Headfort Golf Club and local residents, Cllr Farrelly told the latest council meeting that he was not pursuing the proposal to reduce the size of Headfort ACA.
He complained about media coverage, including a report in The Irish Times last Tuesday which stated that a local landowner had offered Headfort Trust - which owns the internationally important house - €1 million if it did not object.
Trust chairman Dick Blakiston Houston described this allegation as "totally unfounded" and said the trust had submitted its own objection to Cllr Farrelly's proposal, with the aim of preserving the setting and visas of Headfort House.
Dermot Dix, headmaster of Headfort School, a private prep school which has been based in the house for more than 50 years, said: "We are all very pleased that the council has swiftly rejected Cllr Farrelly's proposal".
Cllr Michael Gallagher (SF) said it was clear that councillors who had originally supported the proposal "shied away from it" as a result of media coverage. "The article in The Irish Times played a major part in getting it changed."
On the wider issue of zoning under the Meath development plan, now officially adopted, the county council must now await the reaction of the Department of the Environment, which made it clear that too much land was being zoned.
In a submission on the plan, the department said "very firm measures" were required - including "dezoning" land in "unsuitable and unserviced locations" - if growth was to be managed "sustainably" towards a population of 180,000.
Given that the plan allows for an increase to a population of 210,000 by 2013, it would be open to Minister for the Environment Dick Roche to issue a directive under the 2000 Planning Act to require it to be brought into line with the department's wishes. Frank McDonald
© 2007 The Irish Times
Board hearing into Meath incinerator
An oral hearing into plans for a €100 million incinerator in Co Meath was "tainted" and Bord Pleanála may even have compromised a related Supreme Court case, it was alleged at the opening of the hearing into the project yesterday.
Speaking in Drogheda at the start of a Bord Pleanála inquiry into Indaver Ireland's plans for an incinerator with capacity to take 200,000 tonnes of waste per year, appellant Stephen Ward said there was concern that the board may be restricting the evidence brought by opponents of the plan.
He was told by hearing inspector Mary Cunneen that there would be no restriction on evidence produced.
Mr Ward referred specifically to a letter from the board issued on February 26th last, in which appellants were advised it would be helpful if their testimony did not overly concentrate on material already given to the board in respect of a previously approved smaller incinerator with a capacity of 150,000 tonnes.
The letter produced by Mr Ward read: "Finally, as planning permission and a waste licence have already been granted in respect of a similar development at the site [planning reference numbers] it would be helpful to conduct the hearing, were the parties to focus on issues specifically pertaining to the currently proposed development including any material changes in circumstances which have occurred in the interim period."
Mr Ward insisted the letter raised very serious concerns about the bringing of evidence and the format of the inquiry. He said the previously proposed incinerator had not been approved, as a case against it was still with the
Supreme Court. And he suggested the letter "has prejudiced that [Supreme Court] hearing".
He told Ms Cunneen, "you yourself referred to a previous application", which he said was inappropriate as what was before yesterday's hearing was a completely new application, not a variation of a previous one.
"An Bord Pleanála have prejudiced to a certain degree the Supreme Court outcome," he told the inquiry.
In response, Ms Cunneen said that while her "aim is to ask parties to focus on those aspects of the development which differ" from the previously proposed development, she had no intention of restricting or limiting the evidence brought by the parties.
Concern, however, was also expressed by a number of politicians present including the Louth TDs Arthur Morgan of Sinn Féin and Fine Gael environment spokesman Fergus O'Dowd. Both men asked about the site selection process, as the evidence would be the same in both incinerator applications but there would be a difference in site selection, particularly in assessing traffic volumes, for a large facility and that for a smaller facility.
Trevor Sargent told the hearing that the incinerator would undermine the regional waste-management plan for the northeast,
Mr Sargent was one of a number of politicians, including Meath councillor Dominic Hannigan and Louth councillor Gerald Nash, who gave evidence for opponents of the project, No Incineration Alliance and Louth People Against Incineration.
Mr Sargent said an incinerator would undermine the principle of regional self-reliance on waste-management facilities and would ignore the need to reduce levels of waste. "This is understandable as incinerators require more rather than less waste," he said.
He also maintained the proposals put forward by Indaver Ireland for a 200,000-tonne capacity waste-to-energy plant "would become a major greenhouse gas emitter if permission is granted". The plant would damage the marketability of local food "and would destroy any prospect of reaching the ultimate goal of zero waste".
Mr Hannigan said locating an incinerator above a regionally important aquifer would threaten water supplies to centres of population along the east coast. He was "deeply concerned" about a local health authority warning that the aquifer was susceptible to ground-water pollution. In the event of a fire or explosion, he said, the aquifer could be polluted by waste, waste waters or ash.
An assertion from Mr Nash that Meath County Council had not consulted Louth county or Drogheda town councils was rejected by John Gallagher SC
for Meath County Council. Mr Gallagher said his instructions were that written invitations to comment on the incinerator project had been sent to both councils, but no reply had been received from either body.
Earlier, at the start of yesterday's hearings, an application from the No Incineration Alliance and the Meath People Against Incineration to adjourn was deferred by planning inspector Mary Cunneen. Spokesman for Louth People Against Incineration Ollan Herr had asked for the adjournment because a key witness, Prof Vyvyan Howard of the centre of molecular bioscience at the University of Ulster, was unable to attend due to illness. He could be available on April 2nd and 3rd.
Mr Herr also said a further adjournment after April might be required until such a time as the State's implementation plan for the Stockholm Convention on the reduction and possible elimination of dioxins and furans was published.
Ms Cunneen said the application raised many practical issues of the availability of experts for cross-examination and no arrangement had been made to extend the oral hearing beyond this week's current schedule.
There was also the question of whether the Government's proposals for the implementation of the Stockholm Convention would be available in the six-week timeframe for her report to An Bord Pleanála.
In the circumstances she intended to go ahead with the hearing during which Prof Howard's evidence might be read into the record.
In deferring the matter to the board, Ms Cunneen assured Mr Herr it would not close the inquiry until it was satisfied it had all the relevant information it required.
A range of experts for Indaver Ireland told the hearing the plant was designed to comply with Irish, EU and international best practice. Emissions data from the proposed incinerator would be available "in real time" on the internet to demonstrate this compliance and a permanent community liaison group would be set up.
Stephen Hickey of ARC Consultants said the topography of the land meant that, in a line of sight from the top of the tumulus at Dowth, some three metres of the top of the 65-metre incinerator stack should be visible. However, because of the distance of 5.45km and the colouring of the stack, it would be imperceptible.
Mr Hickey added that neither the plant nor the stack would be visible from the archaeological complex of Newgrange, the site of the Battle of the Boyne, nor anywhere else within the Boyne Valley.
Addressing the likely traffic impact of the plant, Gareth Mitchell of consulting engineers Roughan & O'Donovan said he had examined the environmental impact assessment, visited the site and carried out internationally
standardised computer analysis of the proposed arrangements, and was satisfied. "In my opinion the proposed facility will not result in any significant impacts on the surrounding road network," he said.
Conor Jones, a chemical engineer who is engineering manager with Indaver Ireland, told the hearing that concern had been expressed that should the plant be limited in its electricity supply to the national grid, the plant would not be able to operate at capacity. This was not the case, he said, as the turbines could simply be bypassed. Mr Jones described how ash would be taken away by sealed lorries reversing into the plant to prevent the ash escaping. He also described how flue gases would be cleaned before being discharged to the atmosphere.
Patricia McGrath, compliance manager with the company, said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets limits for emissions and the design of the facility would be within these parameters. She said these would be constantly monitored by the EPA, with results displayed on the internet.
Tim O'Brien
© 2007 The Irish Times
Speaking in Drogheda at the start of a Bord Pleanála inquiry into Indaver Ireland's plans for an incinerator with capacity to take 200,000 tonnes of waste per year, appellant Stephen Ward said there was concern that the board may be restricting the evidence brought by opponents of the plan.
He was told by hearing inspector Mary Cunneen that there would be no restriction on evidence produced.
Mr Ward referred specifically to a letter from the board issued on February 26th last, in which appellants were advised it would be helpful if their testimony did not overly concentrate on material already given to the board in respect of a previously approved smaller incinerator with a capacity of 150,000 tonnes.
The letter produced by Mr Ward read: "Finally, as planning permission and a waste licence have already been granted in respect of a similar development at the site [planning reference numbers] it would be helpful to conduct the hearing, were the parties to focus on issues specifically pertaining to the currently proposed development including any material changes in circumstances which have occurred in the interim period."
Mr Ward insisted the letter raised very serious concerns about the bringing of evidence and the format of the inquiry. He said the previously proposed incinerator had not been approved, as a case against it was still with the
Supreme Court. And he suggested the letter "has prejudiced that [Supreme Court] hearing".
He told Ms Cunneen, "you yourself referred to a previous application", which he said was inappropriate as what was before yesterday's hearing was a completely new application, not a variation of a previous one.
"An Bord Pleanála have prejudiced to a certain degree the Supreme Court outcome," he told the inquiry.
In response, Ms Cunneen said that while her "aim is to ask parties to focus on those aspects of the development which differ" from the previously proposed development, she had no intention of restricting or limiting the evidence brought by the parties.
Concern, however, was also expressed by a number of politicians present including the Louth TDs Arthur Morgan of Sinn Féin and Fine Gael environment spokesman Fergus O'Dowd. Both men asked about the site selection process, as the evidence would be the same in both incinerator applications but there would be a difference in site selection, particularly in assessing traffic volumes, for a large facility and that for a smaller facility.
Trevor Sargent told the hearing that the incinerator would undermine the regional waste-management plan for the northeast,
Mr Sargent was one of a number of politicians, including Meath councillor Dominic Hannigan and Louth councillor Gerald Nash, who gave evidence for opponents of the project, No Incineration Alliance and Louth People Against Incineration.
Mr Sargent said an incinerator would undermine the principle of regional self-reliance on waste-management facilities and would ignore the need to reduce levels of waste. "This is understandable as incinerators require more rather than less waste," he said.
He also maintained the proposals put forward by Indaver Ireland for a 200,000-tonne capacity waste-to-energy plant "would become a major greenhouse gas emitter if permission is granted". The plant would damage the marketability of local food "and would destroy any prospect of reaching the ultimate goal of zero waste".
Mr Hannigan said locating an incinerator above a regionally important aquifer would threaten water supplies to centres of population along the east coast. He was "deeply concerned" about a local health authority warning that the aquifer was susceptible to ground-water pollution. In the event of a fire or explosion, he said, the aquifer could be polluted by waste, waste waters or ash.
An assertion from Mr Nash that Meath County Council had not consulted Louth county or Drogheda town councils was rejected by John Gallagher SC
for Meath County Council. Mr Gallagher said his instructions were that written invitations to comment on the incinerator project had been sent to both councils, but no reply had been received from either body.
Earlier, at the start of yesterday's hearings, an application from the No Incineration Alliance and the Meath People Against Incineration to adjourn was deferred by planning inspector Mary Cunneen. Spokesman for Louth People Against Incineration Ollan Herr had asked for the adjournment because a key witness, Prof Vyvyan Howard of the centre of molecular bioscience at the University of Ulster, was unable to attend due to illness. He could be available on April 2nd and 3rd.
Mr Herr also said a further adjournment after April might be required until such a time as the State's implementation plan for the Stockholm Convention on the reduction and possible elimination of dioxins and furans was published.
Ms Cunneen said the application raised many practical issues of the availability of experts for cross-examination and no arrangement had been made to extend the oral hearing beyond this week's current schedule.
There was also the question of whether the Government's proposals for the implementation of the Stockholm Convention would be available in the six-week timeframe for her report to An Bord Pleanála.
In the circumstances she intended to go ahead with the hearing during which Prof Howard's evidence might be read into the record.
In deferring the matter to the board, Ms Cunneen assured Mr Herr it would not close the inquiry until it was satisfied it had all the relevant information it required.
A range of experts for Indaver Ireland told the hearing the plant was designed to comply with Irish, EU and international best practice. Emissions data from the proposed incinerator would be available "in real time" on the internet to demonstrate this compliance and a permanent community liaison group would be set up.
Stephen Hickey of ARC Consultants said the topography of the land meant that, in a line of sight from the top of the tumulus at Dowth, some three metres of the top of the 65-metre incinerator stack should be visible. However, because of the distance of 5.45km and the colouring of the stack, it would be imperceptible.
Mr Hickey added that neither the plant nor the stack would be visible from the archaeological complex of Newgrange, the site of the Battle of the Boyne, nor anywhere else within the Boyne Valley.
Addressing the likely traffic impact of the plant, Gareth Mitchell of consulting engineers Roughan & O'Donovan said he had examined the environmental impact assessment, visited the site and carried out internationally
standardised computer analysis of the proposed arrangements, and was satisfied. "In my opinion the proposed facility will not result in any significant impacts on the surrounding road network," he said.
Conor Jones, a chemical engineer who is engineering manager with Indaver Ireland, told the hearing that concern had been expressed that should the plant be limited in its electricity supply to the national grid, the plant would not be able to operate at capacity. This was not the case, he said, as the turbines could simply be bypassed. Mr Jones described how ash would be taken away by sealed lorries reversing into the plant to prevent the ash escaping. He also described how flue gases would be cleaned before being discharged to the atmosphere.
Patricia McGrath, compliance manager with the company, said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets limits for emissions and the design of the facility would be within these parameters. She said these would be constantly monitored by the EPA, with results displayed on the internet.
Tim O'Brien
© 2007 The Irish Times
Tuesday, 6 March 2007
Councillors adopt new Meath population plan
COUNCILLORS in Meath have voted to allow another 50,000 people move to their region.
They have voted to adopt a new county development plan but included a clause which will allow the population to grow by 3,000 more than advised by their senior planner.
The plan allows for an additional 2,500 units in Bettystown/Laytown and Mornington East area and 3,500 in the Drogheda environs as well as 2,500 in Trim.
The new plan will take effect as a legal statutory instrument in one month's time.
© Irish Independent
They have voted to adopt a new county development plan but included a clause which will allow the population to grow by 3,000 more than advised by their senior planner.
The plan allows for an additional 2,500 units in Bettystown/Laytown and Mornington East area and 3,500 in the Drogheda environs as well as 2,500 in Trim.
The new plan will take effect as a legal statutory instrument in one month's time.
© Irish Independent
Monday, 5 March 2007
Further hearing into plan by Indaver starts today
AN BORD Pleanala will hold an oral hearing starting today into the proposals for increased capacity at the planned incinerator at Carranstown, Duleek.
The hearing is expected to run until Friday.
Last August, Meath County Council granted planning permission to Indaver Ireland for an increase in capacity from 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes per annum at its proposed incinerator at Carranstown.
The company said that the increased tonnage was in line with the new North-East Waste Management Plan. Other changes included a revised layout of the facility and new design features.
An Bord Pleanala received a number of appeals against the council’s decision and indicated that it would hold an oral hearing into the appeals.
Pat O’Brien of the No Incineration Alliance, who was among those who lodged an appeal, this week called on members of the public and local representatives from all political parties opposed to this plan to turn up and voice their opposition to the proposal.
“A bigger plant, bigger emissions, bigger traffic numbers, will present bigger problems for everybody concerned and all of this at a time when we were told by the powers that be that we still have 25 years’ landfill available to us here in the north-east. Recycling is also on the increase and incineration is simply not needed,” he said.
Mr O’Brien pointed out that the proposal would see an incinerator built on one of the largest aquifers in the county, which continues to supply water to people living and
working in the region.
“Where is the sense in building an incinerator on top of such a valuable and scarce resource. It is complete madness,” he added.
Mr O’Brien said that the hearing affords all political representatives from all parties an opportunity to place on the record their opposition to the incinerator.
He pointed out that, during the planning process for the initial smaller plant, those opposed to incineration convinced the planning inspector that the plant shouldn’t be built at Carranstown, but his decision was overturned by the planning appeal’s board.
Ann Casey
Meath Chronicle
The hearing is expected to run until Friday.
Last August, Meath County Council granted planning permission to Indaver Ireland for an increase in capacity from 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes per annum at its proposed incinerator at Carranstown.
The company said that the increased tonnage was in line with the new North-East Waste Management Plan. Other changes included a revised layout of the facility and new design features.
An Bord Pleanala received a number of appeals against the council’s decision and indicated that it would hold an oral hearing into the appeals.
Pat O’Brien of the No Incineration Alliance, who was among those who lodged an appeal, this week called on members of the public and local representatives from all political parties opposed to this plan to turn up and voice their opposition to the proposal.
“A bigger plant, bigger emissions, bigger traffic numbers, will present bigger problems for everybody concerned and all of this at a time when we were told by the powers that be that we still have 25 years’ landfill available to us here in the north-east. Recycling is also on the increase and incineration is simply not needed,” he said.
Mr O’Brien pointed out that the proposal would see an incinerator built on one of the largest aquifers in the county, which continues to supply water to people living and
working in the region.
“Where is the sense in building an incinerator on top of such a valuable and scarce resource. It is complete madness,” he added.
Mr O’Brien said that the hearing affords all political representatives from all parties an opportunity to place on the record their opposition to the incinerator.
He pointed out that, during the planning process for the initial smaller plant, those opposed to incineration convinced the planning inspector that the plant shouldn’t be built at Carranstown, but his decision was overturned by the planning appeal’s board.
Ann Casey
Meath Chronicle
Sunday, 25 February 2007
Oral hearing on waste-to-energy facility
In February 2006, Indaver Ireland lodged a revised planning application with Meath County Council for the company's proposed Meath Waste-to-Energy Facility.
The principal change was to seek approval for an increase in capacity from 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes per annum - in line with the new North East Waste Management Plan. Other changes included a revised layout of the facility and new design features, in line with best practice.
Meath County Council granted planning permission in August 2006 (Click Here). Subsequently, An Bord Pleanála received five valid appeals to the Council's decision to grant planning permission.
In January 2007, Indaver was advised that An Bord Pleanála were to hold an oral hearing of appeals for the company's planning application. The Board has confirmed that the oral hearing will take place at the Boyne Valley Hotel, Drogheda, from Tuesday 6th March to Friday 9th March 2007 - commencing at 10.00am.
The principal change was to seek approval for an increase in capacity from 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes per annum - in line with the new North East Waste Management Plan. Other changes included a revised layout of the facility and new design features, in line with best practice.
Meath County Council granted planning permission in August 2006 (Click Here). Subsequently, An Bord Pleanála received five valid appeals to the Council's decision to grant planning permission.
In January 2007, Indaver was advised that An Bord Pleanála were to hold an oral hearing of appeals for the company's planning application. The Board has confirmed that the oral hearing will take place at the Boyne Valley Hotel, Drogheda, from Tuesday 6th March to Friday 9th March 2007 - commencing at 10.00am.
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