Council gets permission to start €16 million extension of landfill site

LIMERICK County Council is about to start on a €16.38 million extension of its landfill site at Gortadroma in west Limerick.

An Bord Pleanála had given the council permission to extend the existing 25-acre landfill site by a further 20 acres after an oral hearing in Limerick.

The council was given permission to extend the entire site by a further 50 acres to include a buffer zone.

At a three-day hearing, local residents told of what they had to put up with since the landfill was first opened 15 years ago.

The chairman of a local action group, Tim Mullane, told the hearing: “We are now facing another 15 years and even after that we don’t know what will happen and if further extensions will be granted.”

County council witnesses told the hearing that if an extension was not granted, Gortadroma’s storage area would be full by the end of 2005.

After more than a year of planning, the further development of the landfill is now ready to proceed.

Gerry Behan, director of the council’s Environmental and Emergency Services said yesterday work to extend the landfill will start next month.

He said the total cost of the extension will include the outlay on the purchase of the necessary land.

The development, he said, will open up a new “cell” which will be able to receive waste early in 2007.

The council aims to recover the development costs from users of the landfill.

With regard to the total cost to the council, Mr Behan said: “It is estimated that €10.63m should be recovered form gate fees in the first four to five-year period as this represents the proportion of the development costs that will no longer be capable of generating income after that period. Similarly, there will be a need to recover the remaining €5.75m over an eight to ten-year period as this represents the proportion of the costs that will not generate income for that period.”

At present, the landfill at Gortadroma, adjacent to the N69, six miles from Foynes, is taking in about 50,000 tons of waste a year. It has a licence to accept 130,000 tons a year.

Mr Behan said: “In order to ensure continuity of landfill availability, it is anticipated that construction works on phase one of the proposed extension will commence in October, with a view to having a new cell available to receive waste early in the new year.”