Councillors lodge objection to Cork waste incinerator

Cork county councillors have lodged an 11th-hour objection to plans by Indaver to build incinerators in Cork Harbour, and a local tourist body has done the same.

Councillors representing the Cobh/Glanmire municipal district all signed a letter at a meeting yesterdaywhich was to be sent by registered post to An Bord Pleanála in time for today’s deadline for receipt of objections to Indaver’s plans for a €160m incinerator in Ringaskiddy.

Labour councillor Cathal Rasmussen, chairman of the municipal district, led calls for the objection. He said the Indaver plan was unsuitable when first lodged in the early 2000s and was even more unsuitable today after the Government had spent millions opening the national maritime college and turning a toxic dump on Haulbowline island into an amenity area.

“The plan is fraught with danger,” he said, adding that there was only one road into the site and if there was any accident, it would put students attending the maritime college at risk.

Mr Rasmussen said the harbour area was now heavily dependent on tourism and green technology research and development and an incinerator was totally incompatible with this.

Fine Gael councillor Sinéad Sheppard maintained Cobh relies more on the harbour than any other town.

“I’m delighted that Minister Simon Coveney has put in an official objection to it. He’s put a lot of effort into clean up of the area,” Ms Sheppard said.

Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy was concerned that previous refusals given to the company made no reference to pollution and said the harbour had suffered serious effects from pollution over the years from other industries.

“How many times do you [Indaver] have to be told no?” asked Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry. “This incinerator is not in keeping with Cork Harbour and people have spent a lot of money fighting against it over the years.”

Meanwhile, Cobh Tourist Ltd confirmed it has also lodged an objection with An Bord Pleanála. Its chairman, Hendrick Verwey, said the proposal to build an incinerator just a stone’s throw from Spike Island and the planned amenity site on Haulbowline “will deliver a fatal blow to the beautiful coastal environment”.

In its submission, he said the board of Cobh Tourism has asked An Bord Pleanála to hold an oral hearing into Indaver’s proposal and to ensure its inspector carried out a visit to the Ringaskiddy site to see what was around it — the NMCI, the Beaufort Building of Marine Renewable Energy Ireland, Ringaskiddy village, Spike Island, and Cobh.

“The real essence of what Cork Harbour is and the aspirations of its many stakeholders to make Cork harbour great can only be fully appreciated and understood by visiting these sites and listening to their champions. In addition the naked eye will see much more than a photomontage suggests it should see,” Mr Verwey said.