Cork councillors concerned officials do not know if they will be asked their views on harbour incinerator

Cork County Council unsure if it will be asked to provide a formal submission to An Coimisiún Pleanála, which will decide if the controversial incinerator will go ahead

An artists' impression of the Indaver Ringaskiddy incinerator project.

Cork County Council officials still do not know if it will be asked to provide a formal submission to Indaver’s latest attempt to get planning permission for a massive incinerator in Ringaskiddy.

That is despite the deadline for observations and objections being November 17.

Several councillors have expressed concern about the fast-approaching deadline and are as yet unsure, as are their officials, if they will be asked at all about their views by An Coimisiún Pleanála, which will ultimately decide the fate of the application.

Standing orders were suspended at a council meeting in County Hall to discuss the issue at the request of Passage West-based Sinn Féin councillor Eoghan Fahy and Carrigaline-based Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Donovan.

Mr Fahy said was now 24 years since Indaver put in its first application for the project in Ringaskiddy, and groups like Chase (Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment) had worked tirelessly to try and prevent the incinerator being developed there.

He and other councillors were advised by senior council officials and the Mayor of County Cork, Independent councillor Mary Linehan-Foley to be careful about what they said as it is currently "a live planning application".

Mr Fahy said communities in the lower harbour had thought the project had gone away and were shocked it had come back on the agenda.

They will not take this lying down and intend to fight this to the very end. We do not want an incinerator on this site of this size. 

"While it may be disheartening to be back fighting this again, we need to come together again as communities and from all sides of the political sphere and stand with the people of the lower harbour,” he said.

Despite repeated warnings, Mr Fahy went on to say it was important to note that since the application was first lodged, parts of the land earmarked for the project are now zoned for educational purposes.

He said councillors held a meeting with Fáilte Ireland last week, at which the tourism body outlined its plans for bringing in more visitors to the lower harbour area, and maintained an incinerator “flies in the face” of those objectives.

“It’s a fairly hot topic in the lower harbour. I would encourage as many people as possible to attend the forthcoming meetings being organised by Chase,” Mr Donovan said.

“I was dismayed and upset to find out we’re again having this discussion [about Indaver],” Cobh-based Labour councillor Cathal Rasmussen said.

Crosshaven-based Fianna Fáil councillor Audrey Buckley and other councillors expressed concern the local authority still did not know if it would be asked for its views, especially as there is just two-and-a-half weeks to the submissions deadline.

Council chief executive Moira Murrell and divisional manager Michael Lynch said they would contact the planning board to find out.

Ms Murrell said if the council was asked by An Coimisiún Pleanála to make observations it would provide an official response and attach it with comments made by councillors.

The first Chase meeting will be held on Thursday, October 30, at 8.15pm in Carrigaline Community Centre. Another is planned for Cobh Community Centre on November 5 at 7.30pm and at Ringaskiddy Community Centre the following day at 7.30pm.