Nobber incinerator proposal set to bypass county council planners
THERE is growing concern in Nobber this week following An Bord Pleanála's ruling that an incinerator proposed by local rendering plant College Proteins qualifies as a Special Infrastructural Developments Scheme (SIDS) project, placing it outside the rulings of Meath County Council planners.
The combined heat and power (CHP) plant proposal is the second attempt by the firm to operate an incinerator there, where there is currently a workforce of over 70. The firm's detailed plan will bypass Meath County Council's planning department and will be lodged with An Bord Pleanala, whose inspectors will scrutinise any objections lodged.
The Bord Pleanála ruling was made on 18th January and signed by board member Brian Hunt, endorsing its inspector's recommendation. The animal products rendering plant made its submission for inclusion in the new SIDS scheme on 23rd August last for “pre-application consultation”.
SIDS is aimed at “fast-tracking” major infrastructural schemes and the firm's prospective application sought the go-ahead to burn 105,000 tonnes annually of raw material - half of it bone meal and the remainder organic liquid material. It proposes to source this material from existing animal rendering plants and the agri-food sector in general.
Councillor Eugene Cassidy described An Bord Pleanála's ruling as a disappointment. He said local householders had made clear their opposition to the firm's proposal three years ago to burn meat and bone meal at a well-attended public meeting. Nobber householders remained opposed to the incinerator proposal and were now likely to draft submissions to An Bord Pleanála setting out their objections, added Colr Cassidy. There were some locals working in the plant but most staff were from outside the area, he added. He expected that locals would now examine their options as to how best to challenge the application.
Nobber TD Shane McEntee said yesterday (Tuesday): “We cannot have two incinerators in Meath.”
He said he would be contacting Environment Minister John Gormley to clarify statements he made earlier about the number of incinerators he would allow. Licences were already in place for incinerating similar waste materials in Edenderry and Kinnegad, the Nobber deputy said. The College Proteins proposal was “a big project and one that the minister will have to address”.
Posters have been appearing around Nobber this week and a public meeting will be held next week in the village hall as organisers examine the papers exchanged by College Proteins and Bord Pleanála during the SIDS determination.
The company's previous attempt to secure planning permission for a combined meat and bone meal incinerator resulted in a packed meeting in the same hall where resident after resident made clear their opposition, citing health grounds in particular.
The firm has been in operation at its College Road site since 1989 and has received an award for its energy efficient practices there. However, residents in the locality and on the Kingscourt Road have complained of odours from the plant and the spreading of offal on lands in the district, which strengthened local opposition to any expansion of its operations.