Council promise on testing at antrax site

No development will take place on a site at Mulgannon, which contains Anthrax deposits from 1911, until full testing has been done, a top Council official has promised.

Sinn Féin councillor Tom Forde said residents are concerned about a planning application by Colm Neville Construction for modifications to an approved 183-house scheme which is part of an overall development called Roxoborough Manor. ‘I was told that testing hasn’t been carried out. Could we have a report on that issue for the next meeting, in relation to any testing or results’, he said.

Council Deputy Chief Executive Tony Larkin confirmed that a new planning application was received before the lockdown and said legally it has to be dealt with in its own right but no development will take place until testing is done. He said developers are entitled to submit as many planning applications as they wish. The Council is currently restrained from making site visits but as restrictions are lifted, applicants will start seeing decisions going out in June and July. Mr.

Larkin said he couldn’t comment on the application but the anthrax issue will be very carefully examined. ‘We need to do the testing to ensure that everything is okay before the development work proceeds’, he said. Residents expressed fears about a potential health hazard from anthrax contamination on part of the site where infected cattle were buried in 1911.