Carlow County Council has reopened proceedings against a local farmer over what it claims is the unauthorised storage of treated sewage sludge from Dublin.
The treated sludge, from Dublin City Council's sewage treatment plant in Ringsend, is marketed as Biofert and used as a fertiliser on tillage land.
The spreading of Biofert is a seasonal activity, making its storage necessary during the off-season months of winter and summer. The main storage facility is at a farm owned by Thomas and Patrick Nolan at Thornhill near Tullow, Co Carlow.
Carlow County Council took a court action against the Nolans in February claiming that the large storage sheds at the farm do not have the required planning permission to store the Biofert material.
The huge sheds have planning permission for agricultural use. However, the council claimed that the storage of the Biofert constituted a commercial activity, for which there was no planning permission.
The council served the Nolans with an enforcement notice last June ordering that all commercial activity on the site was ceased "immediately".
The notice specifically directed that the Nolans stop storing agricultural produce originating from outside their landholding and stop storing fertilizer material "under contract agreement for use on lands outside your landholding". The order was not complied with and the council brought the matter to Tullow District Court at the end of February.
However, the judge ruled that the stipulation in the order that activities cease immediately was not specific enough and a date should have been given. It was ruled that the case could not continue.
The county council has now issued a warning letter to the Nolans, which will be followed by a further enforcement notice if not complied with.
Mr Tom Nolan said yesterday that he had responded to the council's letter, but declined to comment any further in case it would prejudice any future court proceedings.
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