Council says Roadstone purchase is already approved

Wicklow County Council has said a controversial plan to buy land from Roadstone at Glen Ding near Blessington has already been approved by the Department of the Environment.

The council was responding to opposition to the plan from Minister for the Environment Dick Roche who said he only became aware of it in recent weeks.

In a letter to Wicklow county manager Eddie Sheehy last week Mr Roche said he was "amazed" at the plan to locate a reservoir on the Roadstone land.

Mr Roche is anxious that the deal should not go ahead as the council has a complex history of planning enforcement with the company and unresolved issues in relation to an illegal dump.

He has asked the council to investigate reports that an alternative site which was available could cost less.

Mr Roche also told The Irish Times that he wants all local authorities to refrain from doing business with companies or individuals with whom they have outstanding planning or legal difficulties.

Roadstone has had a controversial history in the Co Wicklow. Its acquisition of Glen Ding from the State in 1991 took place in circumstances described by the Comptroller and Auditor General as "inappropriate". The council subsequently zoned the land for quarrying and granted planning permission to Roadstone, but this was overturned in a third-party appeal to the High Court in 1998.

The council itself subsequently secured a High Court order against the company for unauthorised development and a recent application for a quarrying extension at Glen Ding was overturned by Bord Pleanála, partly because of the presence of national monuments.

Roadstone is also in ongoing negotiations with Wicklow County Council and the Environmental Protection Agency over remedying a large-scale illegal dump on its land at Blessington.

Mr Roche told Mr Sheehy that "given the ongoing controversy about Glen Ding I was surprised to find that the county council could have selected an alternative site which has not been embroiled in controversy."

He concluded that "there appears to be no compelling case on cost grounds for the choosing of the Glen Ding site".

Mr Roche asked Mr Sheehy to respond to him "as a matter of urgency" with a report on the decision to negotiate with Roadstone, the appropriateness of the site and value for money.

Mr Roche told The Irish Times there should be no invitation to treat between a local authority and a landowner where there have been serious issues in relation to enforcement. "I have asked for a full report on this and I will not be making any decision on signing off on the plan until the issue of the alternative site has been fully considered".

But last night the council's director of environmental services, Michael Nicholson, asserted that the council already had approval from the department for the scheme dating from earlier this year. Mr Nicholson said "the people of Blessington are entitled to the best site available. It was independently selected by consultants who said the best site was in Glen Ding.

"The other two were in Co Kildare. It is the ideal site, it is closest and it is available to purchase. There is no reason to go to the second-best site."

Asked about Mr Roche's concerns regarding the Roadstone planning history, Mr Nicholson asked: "Why should we not do business with people because of something which is nothing to do with this?" Asked if he felt the acquisition of Roadstone land could not now be stopped, Mr Nicholson replied: "I am saying that it has already been approved. The department has told us to proceed".