Waste management facility on the Murrough is turned down
PLANNERS FEAR POTENTIAL IMPACT ON SPECIAL PROTECTION AREA
A PLANNING application for a waste management facility at the Murrough has been refused permission by Wicklow County Council.
Sur Le Mer Ltd lodged the application in December 2019 seeking permission for a proposed waste management facility at a site adjoining Multi-Metals Recycling.
One of the reasons the planning section of Wicklow County Council refused permission was because of the potential impact the facility would have on the Murrough Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA).
It was planned to use the facility for the acceptance, storage, sorting and transfer of non-hazardous skip waste, construction and demolition waste, green waste and mixed dry recyclables and a public recycling centre for the acceptance of non-hazardous household bulky waste, timber, dry recyclable waste, green biodegradable (landscaping type) waste, metal, glass and household WEEE and batteries.
The total waste intake at the facility would be up to 24,500 tonnes per annum.
The development would also include the construction of a waste management facility to include site entrance, waste reception sorting and storage building, office building, a weighbridge, a weighbridge reception hut, car parking facilities, concrete hardstanding, a wastewater treatment system, foul water holding tank, surface water soakaway, silt trap, interceptor and all associated site works. Additionally, the plans included the construction of a public recycling centre to include site entrance, non fixed waste receptacles (skips, bins, cages and bottle banks) a reception hut, traffic barriers and all associated site works.
The works would have involved the demolition of an existing derelict building on the site and the clean-up and removal of historical waste which was deposited at the site in the past, the erection of boundary walls and railings and entrance gates, landscaping and native wildflower patches and provision of suitable lighting.
It was proposed that the facility would operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
Planners for Wicklow County Council considered that insufficient information had been submitted regarding how volume levels would be managed to avoid overspill into buffer lands; the interaction of the proposed Waste Management Facility with the adjoining Metal Recycling Facility; the existing metal deposition evident on site; the use of permeable paving for parking areas and impact on groundwater; the design of the effluent treatment system, foul water storage tank and the potential for garden green waste to bring invasive species to site.
It was found that ‘in the absence of such information, the planning authority cannot rule out that the development, by itself or in combination with other development in the vicinity, would not be likely to have a significant effect on the Murrough Wetlands SAC/The Murrough SPA.’
The county council also wasn’t satisfied that the proposed development would not comprise the disposal of waste in excess of 25,000 tonnes
‘It is considered that the documents have not fully identified how the volumes will be managed such that they won’t exceed the limit, and given the existing deposition of metal already on site, it is likely that the class 1l limit will be exceeded.’
Furthermore it was also ruled that the development ‘would represent consolidation of unauthorised development on this site, having regard to the existing metal deposition evident on site, and use of lands in conjunction with the adjoining metal recycling facility for which no permission exists, the provision of such a form of development unduly impacts on the amenities of the area, public health, the amenities of adjoining properties, undermines the planning regulations and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.’
Safety concerns were also raised over the large stockpile of metal located adjoining the southern boundary of the site.