Published: Friday, 10th July, 2009 9:00am

Permission for waste facility near Tullamore refused by planning board

* Planning authority declares it “an unacceptable threat to water pollution”

An Bord Pleanala has upheld an appeal by local residents against the development of a waste transfer facility near Tullamore which had been designed to accommodate up to 30,000 tonnes of waste per annum.

The developer, Guessford Ltd, had been granted conditional planning permission by Offaly County Council for the erection of the waste transfer facility at Coleraine, four kilometres to the north west of Tullamore town centre.

The facility was to include a processing area and associated offices, access road, weigh bridge, yard, silt trap, petrol interception, waste water treatment system and associated works.

The proposed 2-storey industrial warehouse building was to have a gross floor area of 1401 square metres and a ridge height of 11 metres. It was due to accommodate 25,000-30,000 tonnes of waste per annum.

However, the granting of planning permission for the development was appealed by Angela Bracken and by other concerned local residents including Eamonn Buggy and John Connor.

The planning board recently upheld the appeals, citing the location of the facility 'on a restricted site directly adjoining the Silver River,' as one of the reasons for its decision.

Other reasons listed by An Bord Pleanala for the decision included: 'the designation of the area by the Office of Public Works as being prone to flooding; the requirement as set out in the current Development Plan for the area to respect the riparian strip adjoining the watercourses; the nature of the development and the reliance of on-site treatment of waste water.'

For these reasons the planning board concluded that the development would result in 'an unacceptable threat to water pollution.'

It felt that the facility 'would seriously injure the amenities of the area and would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.'