Super dump application turned down again

A SUPER DUMP proposal at a forestry site on the Cork-Limerick border was rejected yesterday for a second time by Bord Pleanála.

As anti-dump groups celebrated a victory, waste management company Greenstar refused to rule out future plans for a landfill facility at the Ballyguyroe site in north Cork.

In a brief statement yesterday the developers said: “Greenstar remains confident in the suitability of the lands at Ballyguyroe for use as a residual landfill.

“The company intends to examine the notice and consider its options.”

However, Labour TD Joe Sherlock, who supported the residents’ battle, said: “This is the final nail in the coffin for the proposed super dump. The Bord Pleanála decision was not surprising.”

He added: “The decision should signal the end of the Ballyguyroe dump proposal.”

Campaigning residents were fighting the €15 million proposed super dump development since 2001 after succeeding in the High Court to close a Cork County Council landfill at the same site.

John Geary, who headed a Kildorrery anti-dump group, said the decision upheld the principles of local and regional planning and local democracy.

He said residents and local action groups would be prepared for similar proposals in the scenic valley.

Bord Pleanála decided the proposed excessive volumes of waste for the site, near Mallow, was in contravention of county council planning policies. With a major landfill planned and approved for Bottlehill, also in north Cork, an Bord Pleanála said there was no evidence additional landfill capacity was required to meet the needs of Cork and adjoining regions.

The planning appeals’ body made a similar ruling in 2002 when it refused permission for a landfill development at Ballyguyroe. The former unsuccessful applicant, Celtic Waste, was taken over in 2003 by Greenstar and, in reviving the development proposal, claimed a Bord Pleanála decision was not a valid reason for refusal due to revised legislation under the Protection of the Environment Act.

Greenstar said the decision was disappointing because Cork had a waste management problem.

Under its proposal, Greenstar planned to develop and operate an 11-hectacre site which could handle up to 145,000 tonnes per annum of non-hazardous solid treated residual waste.

Locals were furious last week when the Environmental Protection Agency granted Greenstar an operator’s licence for the site.

Mary Mannix of the Glenanaar Valley Community Group warned Ballyguyroe would become the “latrine of Munster” if the company succeeded in its appeal.

Mr Sherlock said yesterday the site also formed part of a prominent ground water source which was threatened with pollution by Greenstar’s proposal.