Category Archives: Environment

Things that smell bad in the night..

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It’s been a busy few weeks in the life of waste processing in the greater Naas area, and in particular on one stretch of road along Kerdiffstown and Monread, where not one but three current or proposed waste complexes have received permissions, injunctions or stays of execution over the recent while. I summarise below the current state of play.

dumps

Bio Energy Plant
A huge number of objections were received by Kildare county council against the proposed bio-energy complex at Monread / Kerdiffstown. The upshot of this was that the council refused planning permission for the proposed facility. The owner now has five weeks to appeal this decision. Residents or interested parties can also make a submission on the appeal.

NB Whilst the proposed facility is located adjacent to the existing Kerdiffstown dump, however the proposal comes in from a separate party, an M&M Coldstores company.

Existing Kerdiffstown Dump
After almost three years of filing by the EPA the high court granted a temporary injunction against the A1 waste facility at Kerdiffstown on Friday 14th May. This prevents A1 from lodging any further waste into this landfill. A question then arises as to how the estimated 1.5 million tonnes of unprocessed waste in the landfill is to be cleaned up. I have raised this question with the Minister and it is also being pursued by a number of parties including the EPA and the CAN (Clean Air Naas) group (www.can.ie).

Extension to Kerdiffstown Dump
Although the existing dump has now been shut down, at least temporarily, the council simultaneously granted planning permission for the construction of a new dump on an adjoining 26 acre site across the road from the existing plant. The council maintain that each planning proposal is dealt with on its own merits and this application satisfied the various grounds. However this new extension has yet to receive a license from the EPA and that application process will be ongoing through the Summer.

Please see attached map for the location of the above three sites. At any stage residents can continue to report odours to EPA on (01)268 0100 and these will all be logged and referenced in future cases and applications to extend / continue operations.

Funding boost for Killeenmore

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I have spoken about Killeenmore a few times on this blog recently and how I was disappointed to see them miss out on the first round of funding announced last month for flooding relief works in the local area.

Good news this week as I have kept onto our Dáil reps and the council officials and got word through Deputy Fitzpatrick’s office that Killeenmore will now be granted a flood relief allocation of 20,000 this year, with work due to start in May.

This is badly needed and we will keep a watching brief to ensure delivery.

Flood Relief Funding for Co. Kildare

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Funding has now been announced for flood relief works in Kildare and the government has made a multi-million available to local authorities for such works. Funding has been drawn down by Kildare County Council for the following projects:

Minor Flood Relief & Coastal Protection Programme 2010 - Kildare County Council

  • Butterstream, Clane Construction of flood relief structures €356,142
  • Ardclough Construction / Replacement of canal & road crossings €306,410
  • Confey, Leixlip Upgrade culvert €66,556
  • Newtown, Kilcock Construct overflow pipeline €237,912

Total  €967,020

I am disappointed to note that Killeenmore, Sallins is omitted also no mention of Johnstown (although this may have been allocated separately as was discussed in detail at council recently). Much work has recently been completed at Kerdiffstown Sallins to address the culvert issue which caused the Waterways flooding but there may need to be additional measures there in time also.

Killeenmore is in most urgent need of flood relief works and I will be asking why the omission.

Clarification sought on Minister’s remarks

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Last week I spoke of the RTÉ enquiry which led to much acrimony within the Waterways estate at the Minister’s comments which contradicted the technical evidence previously presented. The ful episode can be seen here: http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1063707

Similar claims had also been made in local media at the outset, example here:
02 December 2009  Leinster Leader – http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/Counting-the-cost-of-the.5876640.jp

Thankfully the local debate has moved on in light of technical investigation and informed commentary from residents and engineers, however the prime time remarks represented a setback.

I spoke to Deputy Michael Fitzpatrick about this after the program and he raised the issue in the Oireachtas this week as follows:

Deputy Michael Fitzpatrick: I shall be brief. I shall mention one or two matters in relation to the flooding and move on to more recent events. There was not that much flooding in Kildare, but nonetheless it was very severe. Some of this was caused by the Liffey, as I mentioned earlier, and the way in which it is managed. We need to examine carefully how the Liffey is managed, because while it is flooding in Clane, it then starts to move down to the Strawberry Beds in Dublin, so there is a whole ripple effect.

Perhaps I can ask Mr. Dowling about the Waterways in Sallins. It was flooded very badly, mainly because of blocked drains and outlets. It would not have been flooded at all if proper maintenance had been done before the event. In a recent television comment, the Minister made reference to the Waterways and said the name indicated the development had been built on a flood plain. I have known this area for many years and it was not built on a flood plain, but rather on what was formerly a pitch and putt course, in a strategic location close to the railway station. It got its name from the Grand Canal which runs through the village and the promotional literature when the development was being sold highlighted the canal as a very special amenity, which it is. Comments such as that are very severe on the people now living in those houses, if they want to sell a house in the Waterways since the Minister has indicated it was built on a flood plain. The position needs to be clarified in the public arena about this particular estate. I appeal to the officials and indeed, the Minister, to clearly state that this enormous estate which contains all the infrastructure needed for a proper development, is not built on a flood plain.

Deputy Michael Fitzpatrick: I have one more question for Mr. Dowling, whose answer he may communicate to the committee later. I made a comment earlier about waterways in Sallins. A statement was made by the Minister on television which has the potential to devalue properties in the area substantially and many people are under stress due to this. Most of them are in negative equity at the moment and if his comments stood up, it would be serious for them.

Chairman: I will assist the Deputy. He has raised the matter and the committee will write to the Minister in this regard. We will try to obtain a transcript of the Minister’s comments. I saw the broadcast myself and I remember a certain phrase he used about the name of the estate, but I did not think of the consequences for the estate. We will obtain a transcript and ask the Minister to clarify his comments. We will write to the Minister rather than ask Mr. Dowling.

The full transcript can be seen here.

Prime Time on Sallins Flooding

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Last night (8th Jan, 2010), RTE Prime Time screened a program on the floods in Sallins, amongst other places.

I spoke to the program makers, on camera, for about thirty minutes, however I did not feature in the eventual program. I did show them around the local landscape and bring them to the site of the culvert etc where they interviewed both myself and Brendan McCauley (who did make the program for about 5 seconds!).

The technical information was not bad however the program gave the impression of a state of inertia. I feel that whilst there were many faults preceding the situation (principally lack of any maintenance on the culverts) there has been progress since which was not reflected. In the immediate aftermath, a number of meetings were held and a dedicated committee was setup to progress the engineering issues with the council. That committee had a meeting with the council before Christmas and I understand all sides viewed it as positive. Since then the council have begun a drainage survey of the surrounding lands and I believe the target is to have an upgraded culvert in place by month end.

So things do appear to be happening, albeit at a slow pace. I do not imagine there will be further public meetings however I expect the committee that was formed arising from the initial meetings will be getting together and furthering their work with the council. As I have further updates, I will post on here.

One remark that was most unhelpful was that from the Minister, John Gormely TD.  He remarked, almost flippantly at the end, that the estate was “built on a flood plain” and what would the residents expect? A casual remark, in my view and an uninformed one at that. I have stated in the past exactly why I believe the Waterways flooded and a flood plain does not come into it. I have raised this with Deputy Fitzpatrick and he is seeking a clarification with the Minister so the correct facts can be put on record from the department.