This article is from page 14 of the 2013-09-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
SCORES of families who have been living in the shadow of the Ballyduff beg Waste Management Facility in Inagh for almost two decades are finally to be directly compensated by Clare County Council.
Councillors at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council agreed to take a new approach to dispersing the final € 108,000 tranche of the facilities controversial community fund.
The fund, which was set up as a means of compensating the people in Inagh and Kilnamona for the inconvenience of the waste facility, has been a source of local conflict for more than a decade.
The new scheme will see the final tranche of funding being ring-fenced for the 54 houses who live within a 1.5 kilometre of the centre of the dump. These houses will be invited to submit applications for € 2,000 for projects which will have a positive environmental impact.
“The issues of people, who are closest to the landfall, has always been disregarded up to now. Funds were appointed to every corner of Inagh and Kilnamona who never had to look at, or to deal with the landfill. Their case has never been heard up to now,” said Cllr Joe Arkins (FG).
“There were proposals in the past about a new waste treatment plant and a wind turbine in that local area – and all of those proposals were pushed aside. I want it to be clear that this is open to any environmental project that could have an environmental benefit.
“It is high time that the people effected by this are to be compensated.”
A spokesperson from Clare County Council confirmed that the finding will not go outside the buffer zone. If any of the 54 households do not apply for a portion of the € 108,000 funding – a second tranche will be set up to disperse the remainder.