Cork County Council to seek expressions of interest for €50m Bottlehill landfill site

The local authority is trying to recoup some of the significant monies spent on the then state-of-the art landfill at Bottlehill

The initial plan for the landfill at Bottlehill was that it would have capacity to take 217,000 tonnes of waste per year over a 20-year period. File picture: Denis Minihane

The future of a ‘white elephant’ €50m superdump in Co Cork is likely to be decided soon as Cork County Council is set to seek expressions of interest from “the wider market” for the 48.5-hectare site.

That’s according to council chief executive Moira Murrell who told the Irish Examiner it is time to see if the local authority can recoup some of the significant monies spent on the then state-of-the art landfill at Bottlehill, 23kms north of Cork City.

Ms Murrell has inherited the ‘headache’ associated with the site, 16 years after it was constructed.

The initial plan was that it would have capacity to take 217,000 tonnes of waste per year over a 20-year period.

But in 2009, then council manager Martin Riordan pulled the plug on its opening. The reason he gave was that the “waste landscape” had changed considerably since the local authority planned to build it as far back as 2002, and, in the interim, the government had set out new criteria to divert waste away from landfills, primarily through recycling and incineration.

Again, at the time, he stressed there was also severe competition from landfills in other counties and to make Bottlehill financially viable it would have to take in a minimum of 150,000 tonnes of waste per year.

Back then the council would have to charge a minimum entry fee per vehicle of €50, he said, whereas other landfills were charging on average of €20-€30 per visit.

Several unsuccessful attempts have been made since to "offload" the facility and claw back some of the money spent to date, which also includes some considerable costs involved in maintaining the site.

Wind and solar-powered farms and even the burying of 40,000 tonnes of ash annually from the proposed Indaver incinerator in Ringaskiddly were proposed. Indaver failed to receive planning permission and it is unclear if the company will continue to pursue the Ringaskiddy project.

It was also proposed that the site be used for the burial of construction waste, especially as there isn’t a facility for this in Co Cork, with the nearest being in Waterford.

A proposal was also made to turn it into a "health and recreation centre", featuring riding stables, a farrier service, conference building, restaurant, gymnasium and children’s playground. All proposed projects failed to materialise.

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Ms Murrell said she is “committed to going out and testing the markets” to see if there is interest in the site.

“We have an asset in Bottlehill and we will look to see what can be done with it. We have to work on preparing a call-out for potential users and this should be done by the latter part of this year,” Ms Murrell said.

Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry said previous attempts to recoup some of these costs have proved fruitless to date and this cannot be allowed to continue.

“The annual expenditure in maintenance costs also ties up funds that could be used to deliver much-needed infrastructure around the county," Mr Barry said.

"The council needs to make a decision to either sell the site or maximise the value of the site by exploring all options of utilising existing facilities. I have no doubt that the new senior management team in council will address this issue sooner rather than later,” he added.