This article is from page 18 of the 2013-10-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
CLARE County Council could yet take legal action against the consultants who advised the local authority to establish the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduff beg in Inagh.
The landfill, which has recently closed for all non-recyclable materials, has proved to be a loss-making venture for the local authority, despite a number of expert reports suggesting that it would generate million annually for the coffers of Clare County Council. Despite the closure of the landfill element of the Central Waste Management Facility, the local authority faces an annual bill for the upkeep of the landfill area for the next 20 years.
Kilnamona councillor James Breen (Ind), yesterday put a motion to Clare County Council, formally requesting that they contact their legal representatives and instruct them to begin legal proceedings.
“We are looking at spending tax payers money and rate payers money – millions for the next 20 years. I am instructing the county manager to contact his legal team and instruct them to begin legal action against the people responsible,” he said.
This motion was formally seconded by Shannon councillor Gerry Flynn (Ind) who did not make any formal comment on the motion.
Clare County Council did not have a formal response to Cllr Breen’s motion prepared – as would be traditional for council meeting, with county manager Tom Coughlan stating that he would respond to the motion at the November meeting.
“I didn’t prepare a response to that motion because I wanted to see if it would be proposed and seconded. To take legal proceedings against that proposal would be complex and expensive. I would like to come back to the motion with a report at the November meeting,” he said.
A number of legal actions have been made concerning the operation of the Ballyduff beg Waste Management Facility in recent years. Most recently the local authority settled an action taken by the environmental Protection Agency (EPA) out of court. In recent weeks the council has decided use the final tranche of the Community Development Fund, which was established to compensate those effected by the landfill, to compensate those living directly beside the facility.