Waste plant would lead to more traffic jams, hearing told
John Paul Fitzgerald of ILTP consultants told the An Bord Pleanála hearing that “the increase in industrial growth in the area in recent years has led to a significant increase in traffic within the Ringaskiddy area”, and this will be exacerbated by the Indaver plant’s development.
Mr Fitzgerald examined the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) presented to An Bord Pleanála as part of Indaver’s planning application to build a €150 million facility in the area. He also examined evidence provided at the hearing by the company’s consultant engineer Tony Lynch and the report in 2004 by a board inspector into a previous Indaver application.
Referring to the 2004 report, he reminded those gathered that the inspector had raised concerns about the traffic impact of the plant in her conclusions.
“In the intervening years between the previous application and the current application, the road network has not been improved by any significant amount and a result, we believe that the road network could not justify further development without infrastructure.
“Furthermore, our research shows that there are larger queue lengths than stated in the EIS.
“Queuing was observed at the Shannonpark roundabout in the evening peak to be greater than stated in the EIS,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
A study of traffic by ILTP at the roundabout in late January showed that at 5.50pm, there were traffic queues of 425 metres at the roundabout.
This took six minutes to travel, he said. The Indaver application would add significantly to this traffic jam.
Mr Fitzgerald also argued that the estimated 188 heavy goods vehicles that will travel to and from the plant daily should be directed towards national routes and not smaller roadways, if planning is granted, as they will put undue traffic and physical pressure on minor routes.
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