Bord Pleanala seeks further info on College project

Bord Pleanala has sought further information on the College Proteins planning application for a meat and bonemeal incinerator at Nobber, nine months after the oral hearing into the project. The North-East Against Incineration Alliance expressed amazement at the decision this week and said they had effectively won the planning battle. "They are asking for further information on everything we had proved wrong about the application," claimed John Keogan of NEAI. "We are surprised at the decision and cannot understand why it was not just refused," he said. College Proteins has applied for a biomass combined heat and power plant at Nobber under the fast-track Strategic Infrastructural Development Scheme (SIDS). An oral hearing into the application took place over several weeks last autumn. Among the objectors to the plan at that time were Nobber Community Development Group, Deputies Shane McEntee and Thomas Byrne, Louth People against Incineration, Mullagh Anti-Incineration Group, Meath Hill GFC, Carrickleck NS and St Brigid's NS boards of management, Kilmainhamwood Nursing Home, along with horse trainer Noel Meade, Drs John McMahon and Sheila Casey, and individuals and families. An earlier planning application was withdrawn at an oral hearing in 2008 when it was discovered that part of the lands for which the application had been made were not owned by the company. The further information requests looks for details on all plant processes, process flows and design, including layout and design and the internal plant layout. The company is asked to give details of ash handling and management, including associated plant and equipment. The board is looking for revised details of the emissions stack along with the consequent implications for air and odour modelling. It also calls for a full and detailed visual impact assessment on the setting of Whitewood House, a protected structure, and its parkland setting, and particularly the tree-lined approach. Further information is also sought on the potential impacts on the underlying aquifer, along with a surface water management plan for the site, including the existing and proposed facility for the construction and operational phases. A comprehensive statement on ash ratios is also sought. A spokesperson for the board said that seeking further information after an oral hearing was not unusual as the board needs to be fully conversant with the project.