SKIP HIRE COMPANY REFUSED RETENTION
WEXFORD County Council has refused permission for retention to Maguire Skip Hire Ltd for retention of the change of use of an agricultural yard to a construction and demolition waste recycling facility at Killowen, Castletown.
The company had also sought permission for improvement works to the facility including the disuse of the existing entrance for commercial purposes; to construct a new entrance and access road, including a wheel wash and weigh bridge facilities; the erection of a temporary portacabin for a chemical staff toilet; staff car parking; and surface water disposal and attenuation systems including an oil interceptor and silt traps.
Over 30 locals lodged objections against the facility, while the company said in its application it was seeking to regularise its planning situation and that the business would no longer be viable if retention was refused.
In explaining its reasons for refusal, the Council said that ‘the development endangers public safety by reason of traffic hazard due to the narrow sub-standard nature of the road giving access to the site and it gives rise to an unacceptable increase in traffic turning movements in close proximity to an existing staggered junction.’
The Council also said the proposed and existing entrances on a narrow county road, and the anticipated traffic movements, would ‘endanger the public safety.’
The Planning Authority was also not satisfied that the development does not have ‘a material impact on the amenities of the area with specific regard to noise, dust and surface water disposal.’ It also said the application contained ‘insufficient information’ to ascertain the full extent of the impacts of the development on the environment.’
There was also potential for impacts to a water-course in proximity to the Kilpatrick Sandhills Special Area of Conservation, it added.
Welcoming the news, local resident Eileen Collins called on the Council’s environment section to take the case on.
‘This has gone on and on for five years. What is going to stop them?’ she said. ‘I do feel it is an environmental issue. Wexford County Council has done nothing other than refuse planning permission.’