VIDEO: Expert claims Ringaskiddy 'appropriate location' for incinerator as hundreds protest
An expert witness for Indaver Ireland has said Ringaskiddy and not Bottlehill is the appropriate site for an incinerator, writes .
Dave Coakley, director of Coakley O'Neill Town Planning Ltd, told an oral hearing into the proposed development that Bottlehill is not zoned as an industrial area, nor is it located within a Strategic Employment Area - which Ringaskiddy is.
Mr Coakley told the An Bord Pleanala hearing in Carrigaline that Ringaskiddy benefits from closer proximity to producers of hazardous waste.
.@anbordpleanala @CHASECorkNews @IndaverIreland incinerator size scaled back by one third sez expert witness Dave Coakley #IEStaff
— Catherine Shanahan (@cathshan) April 19, 2016
The hearing, which got underway this morning, arises from Indaver Ireland's third planning application for an incinerator in Ringaskiddy. The first application was made in 2001.
It has emerged that the website on which submissions will be published at the An Bord Pleanála hearing into plans by Indaver Ireland to build an incinerator is actually owned by Indaver Ireland.
Several members of the audience objected to this revelation at the oral hearing which got underway this morning in Carrigaline Court Hotel in Co Cork.
They asked bord inspector, Derek Daly, for clarification which he is currently waiting for.
The website is ringaskiddyrrc.ie.
Indaver is planning to build a 240,000 tonnes per annum waste-to-energy facility in Ringaskiddy
An application by Chase (Cork Harbour Area for a Safe Environment) for the adjournment of an oral hearing into plans for an incinerator in Ringaskiddy has been refused.
The application was made by solicitor Joe Noonan on behalf of Chase.
Mr Noonan said he was requesting the adjournment to give everyone time to see all the relevant information in relation to the planning application - that there were "dozens of areas of clarification identified which haven't been addressed".
An Bord Pleanála's Inspector Derek Daly refused the application for adjournment saying Indaver would give a response to the issues raised.
"In advance of hearing them [Indaver] I can't make a judgement on whether they've been addressed or not," Mr Daly said.
Hundreds of protesters have gathered in Carrigaline in Cork, where an oral hearing into plans to build a €160m incinerator in Ringaskiddy is getting underway.
An oral hearing into plans to build an incinerator in Cork will begin today.
An Bórd Pleanála is set to hear from Indaver Ireland on its plans for the 240,000 tonne waste-to-energy plant in Ringaskiddy in Cork Harbour. Indaver's parent company is based in Belgium.
Indaver was refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála (ABP) on its second outing in 2011.
The company had been granted planning permission for its initial application in 2004 but years of legal wrangling meant that permission expired. However within 14 months of the 2011 refusal, Indaver was back in pre-planning consultation with ABP with the aim of having its proposal deemed a strategic infrastructure development (SID).
Gertie O'Driscoll protests outside #ABP oral hearing on @indaverireland plans for ringaskiddy incinerator #IEStaff pic.twitter.com/8rEYt9S0WK
— Catherine Shanahan (@cathshan) April 19, 2016
The company has promised to invest €300,000 a year into the community for the next 25 years if they are given the green light for the project.
The hearing gets underway this morning in Carrigaline.
Indaver managing director John Ahern previously said the company is an experienced and innovative organisation which built and runs Ireland’s first waste-to-energy facility in Meath.
“It’s been operating successfully since 2011 and treats the same sort of waste that will be accepted by the proposed development in Ringaskiddy," he said.
Chase (Cork Harbour for a Safe Environment) has fought Indaver’s plans for a number of years on environmental and health grounds. Residents first heard of the plan 15 years ago, and begun their campaign of opposition shortly thereafter.
