Roadstone Ltd were refused planning permission by the council for an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at their quarry in Killough, near Holycross, which was refused by the local authority.<\/p>\n
The plans would involve a 6.3-hectare bio-renewables facility incorporating an anaerobic digester to convert animal feed into biomethane gas.<\/p>\n
Tipperary County Council refused planning permission for the development saying that insufficient information had been provided about road safety and the development\u2019s potential environmental risks.<\/p>\n
“The planning authority is not satisfied that an adequate level of information has been provided on which to make an informed assessment on the risks of the development to the environment and its impact on surrounding land use,\u201d the council said.<\/p>\n
Planners also raised concerns about sightlines for road users at the proposed entrance to the facility, warning that granting permission could endanger road safety.<\/p>\n
“The planning authority is not satisfied that the works proposed to achieve the required sightlines can be undertaken notwithstanding the details submitted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the refusal, Roadstone has moved to challenge the decision to An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la (ACP), saying that issues with the sightlines could be rectified by relocating a stop line on the road, as well as adding a hatched marking on the road, which they say, would allow them to improve sightlines without interfering in the neighbouring land.<\/p>\n
“The applicant notes this is an established access, which has served the existing development for many years, and is not aware of any historical collisions, safety concerns, or evidence that would give rise to a traffic hazard or risk to public safety,\u201d an agent acting on behalf of Roadstone said.<\/p>\n
The agent also said that no alternative site would be suitable for the biogas plant, because it is specific to the Killough Quarry site.<\/p>\n
“This proposed plant is specific to the Killough Quarry location as its purpose is to provide a clean and renewable energy supply to the quarry site,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
At an emergency community meeting following the company\u2019s decision to appeal the planning application, the Killough Biogas Concern Group vowed to keep fighting the application, and have now launched a GoFundMe campaign to help organise their own independent surveys.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the meeting, Henry Mooney, a Tipperary farmer and PRO of the National Biogas Concern Group said that the local community had now been dragged into a battle with Roadstone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is deeply regrettable that our community is being forced into this position once more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoadstone have put us here, and we have no choice but to respond,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Pat Shanahan of the Killough Biogas Concern Group said that if the plant were to go ahead in Killough, that it would put pressure on feedstock suppliers, and lead to an increase in prices for farmers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen AD developers start offering high prices for silage, they distort local markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cFarmers not supplying the plant end up paying more and that pressure is already happening in other parts of the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The group are now aiming to raise \u20ac8,000 to commission independent scientific, safety and traffic assessments, which are considered essential to ensuring the local authority\u2019s decision is fully defended, according to the group.<\/p>\n
One attendee of the emergency meeting said that it was about more than just Roadstone\u2019s plans for their land, it was about the future of their area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is about the future of our community,\u201d they said. \u201cWe\u2019ve stood together before, and we will again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Killough Biogas Concern Group also submitted an observation to ACP, saying that the group said that the development would not comply with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, 2015.<\/p>\n
“The Tipperary County Council Climate Action Plan requires that developments demonstrate consistency with local decarbonisation targets. The [environmental report] provides no demonstration of alignment with local targets and fails to address the County Development Plan\u2019s low-carbon objectives,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe alternatives analysis does not meaningfully examine the Lisheen Bioeconomy Campus, which is expressly identified at regional and national level as the appropriate site for bioeconomy development,\u201d the group added.<\/p>\n
The group also raised concerns about road safety, noise, dust and air quality, and the use of explosives on site, which the appeal says is causing \u201chome cracking and structural damage\u201d.<\/p>\n
An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la is expected to decide on the appeal by July 8.<\/p>\n
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roadstone Ltd were refused planning permission by the council for an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at their quarry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,10668,82],"class_list":["post-376811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-katie-odonovan","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}