This article is from page 13 of the 2008-06-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
THE Raheen Wood Steiner School is just one of a number of groups in east Clare that has appealed the decision by Clare County Council to grant planning permission for a waste fa- cility that is aiming to half the capac- ity of the Inagh landfill.
Along with Raheen Wood, the Scariff, Mountshannon and White- gate Angling Club have appealed the decision, as have a large group of 1n- dividuals.
Already, the planning application is in the process two years and Clare Waste and Recycling Ltd was seek- ing to have the capacity to deal with 25,000 tonnes of waste each year.
The council’s own Inagh landfill is licensed to deal with 56,000 tonnes per annum and giving the go-ahead to the plan last month, the council stated that the proposed development would not seriously injure the ameni- ties of the area or of property in the vicinity.
As part of the 40 conditions at- tached to the permission, the coun- cil has ruled that there shall be no increase in production levels, no in- crease in storage volumes on site and the total disposal material to landfill shall not exceed 5,000 tonnes per an- nloueee
The facility is to be located on a 10
acre site near the small east Clare vil- lage of Tuamgraney and in their ap- peal the appellants state, ““We must indicate that the application has been a source of considerable distress to the community. We also submit that in the best interests of the commu- nity, a request for an oral hearing on the matter is not the way forward, as the process is likely to be even more divisive and stressful than the appli- cation process.
“Our submissions could be sum- marised by saying that too many assumptions have been made in the decision to grant permission to this development.
“When the risk of getting caught is low and the punishment for compli- ance is a small fine, or a written rap on the knuckles, the attitude to au- thority weakens and the damage gets worse.
“The waste business is growing and private operators are much less scrupulous than local authorities in the operation of their facilities. The Clare waste facility proposes an in- crease of 184 per cent in through- put capacity, up to a total of 25,000 tonnes per annum
“We submit that a deliberative search for the positive aspects of the application has been made by the council, to provide a new home for this industry.