Tullamore biogas plan set for legal challenge

A judicial review of An Bord Pleanála decision to grant permission for a renewable biogas facility near Tullamore is set to be sought.

Grafton Group PLC has filed papers in the case in the High Court against An Bord Pleanala's decision to grant planning permission in February to Strategic Power Limited for the biogas facility on a site at Ballyduff, 2.2km from the town centre of Tullamore.

The facility, it's proposed, will receive organic matter and convert it into biogas and organic fertiliser.

The application to the High Court was filed on March 31.

The biogas plant had been refused planning permission by Offaly County Council in January 2021, but the applicant had appealed the decision to the planning board, which subsequently approved the development.

Local people living in the vicinity of the proposed facility, along with businesses operating in the nearby Axis Business Park, had waged a strong campaign of opposition to the plant.

Grafton Group owns and operates Chadwicks which is located immediately to the south of the application site and made an observation to An Bord Pleanála during its deliberations on the ultimately successful appeal by Strategic Power Limited.

Following planning approval from An Bord Pleanála, Strategic Power, a leading renewable energy developer, said its anaerobic digestion plant in Tullamore would be operational by Autumn 2023.

It said, the plant, once constructed, would be fed by approximately 50,000 tonnes of feedstock that will primarily be sourced from local farms within 10 kilometres of the site. The proposed development will not accept any municipal waste.

In response to Grafton Group’s decision to challenge An Bord Pleanála’s awarding of planning permission for an AD plant in Tullamore, Paul Carson, Managing Director, Strategic Power, said,

“The renewable gas project in Tullamore has gone through a rigorous planning process with the appeal being considered at length by An Bord Pleanala with all environmental matters being fully addressed in a robust planning application.

He said it was “quite incredible” that the Grafton Group would object to a renewable energy facility“at a time when climate crisis, energy security and the rising cost of energy is of such national importance”

Grafton Group did not respond to a request for comment.