Crackdown on quarries that breach planning rules

FOLLOWING a crackdown on quarry firms operating outside the terms of their planning permission, Kerry County Council is to be paid €50,000 a year by one quarry company, it has emerged.

This development levy has been imposed on Ardfert Quarries to help meet infrastructural costs arising from an extension and use of the quarry site.

A council spokesperson confirmed yesterday that Ardfert Quarries will have to pay €50,000 annually for every year it operates.

The council will receive 10 cent a tonne of material extracted from the site.

Ardfert Quarries, near Tralee, had to apply for retention and an extension of use following a clampdown by the council.

The company applied to the council for permission to retain their existing quarry and expand their usage of the site. This was granted by Kerry County Council subject to 57 conditions.

One of the conditions was that the quarry pay a sum of €100,000 to the council to help cover the cost of infrastructural improvements, including road repair and upgrading.

Ardfert Quarries argued that the local authority overstated their use of local roads, adding that they, too, had carried out road works at their own expense.

An Bord Pleanála found that the business accounted for approximately one-third of heavy goods vehicles in the area. Roads around the quarry were in reasonably good condition, but were not suitable for the intensive use to which they were being subjected.

However, Bord Pleanála noted that the quarry did repair roads in the vicinity of its business.

Council investigations, meanwhile, are continuing into suspected illegal quarries.

The focus is understood to be on up to 12 illegal quarries, claimed to be operating without proper planning permission. A number of cases have come before the courts.

Some of the quarry firms argue they have been in business since before 1963 when planning was not necessary and, therefore, can continue. The council claims some quarries have increased their usage at the sites, causing serious damage to service roads.