Irish Examiner - 10-02-09
Claims waste firm trying to muscle in on council

INDAVER has been accused of trying to muscle-in on Cork County Council’s waste disposal business.

The claim was made at a meeting in County Hall yesterday by the leader of the Fianna Fáil party on the local authority.

Cllr Alan Coleman said he believed Indaver’s plans for massive waste incinerators at Ringaskiddy were aimed at the local authority because the council still hasn’t opened its Bottlehill landfill, or got its Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) off the ground.

“The reason why they (Indaver) are coming is because Cork City Council reneged on the MRF at Kinsale Road landfill which put us back years. Until we get our house in order with the MRF we will continue to have a situation where private companies will come in and try to pick business off us,” said Cllr Coleman.

Cllr Noel Collins (Ind) claimed incineration could have serious implications for Ireland’s environment and added that in the US no toxic waste incinerators had been built for years.

“Incinerators on this scale would undermine the council’s waste management programme as we have put huge resources into creating the landfill at Bottlehill. We should oppose this by reflecting the wishes of the overwhelming majority of our constituents,” said Cllr Martin Hallinan (SF).

Cllr Deirdre Forde (FF) bemoaned the fact that under new legislation the decision to grant or refuse planning was totally in the hands of An Bord Pleanála and not the local authority.

She also said the N28 (Cork-Ringaskiddy road) was totally unsuitable for the amount of additional traffic the incinerators would bring.

“It’s akin to putting the traffic at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 down a cul-de-sac,” she said.

Cllr John Gilroy (Lab) reckoned that under section 161 of Local Government Planning Act, councillors could force the county manager to seek judicial review of the bord’s decision. He asked Mr Riordan to take legal advice on that.

Cllr Kevin Murphy (FG) said the harbour area had suffered enough over the years.

He added that the council officials’ report would be more forceful if it was accompanied by the councillors’ own views.

Fine Gael’s Cllr Barbara Murray said five acres of the site would “be under roof” if Indaver was granted permission to proceed with the project.

“We’re trying to promote the harbour area for marine leisure activities, not this,” she said.

The mayor of Co Cork, Cllr Noel Harrington (FG), said Indaver’s plan didn’t fit nicely into the county council plans for the future, or those of the South West Regional Authority.

It was all one-way traffic in the debate until Cllr Kevin O’Keeffe (FF) pointed out that he was in favour of the Indaver plan.

“I’ve been in favour of it from day one. Other countries have incineration in place. At the moment there are an amount of warehouses stockpiling recycled material which isn’t wanted. And it hasn’t been proved that there are any health side effects (from incineration),” said Mr O’Keeffe.

Cllr Mulvihill (Lab) said he also wanted councillors’ views to be sent to Bord Pleanála, on top of those expressed by management which stated the Indaver proposals were inappropriate.

He said the attachment should include their fears about the possibility of people’s health being damaged by incinerators.

It was agreed to forward the council officials’ report to the board detailing their concerns about the Indaver proposals and to include the objections outlined by the public representatives.