Wicklow locals concerned at plan for six-million tonne landfill

A plan to locate one of the State’s largest landfills in a former quarry in east Co Wicklow has raised concerns among local residents and councillors.

An application from Kilsaran Concrete to process up to 800,000 tonnes of soil, stone and construction and demolition waste per year at the site near the N11 in the east of the county has been lodged with An Bord Pleanála.

The annual volume of waste envisaged is among the highest ever put forward for a landfill in the State and exceeds the 600,000 tonnes of municipal waste handled each year by the incinerator at Poolbeg, Dublin.

The proposed facility involves the creation of an inert, lined landfill, a separate construction and demolition waste recovery facility, and a soil washing plant at Ballinclare Quarry. The total capacity of the quarry would be in the region of 6.1 million tonnes.

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In its application, Kilsaran Concrete proposes backfilling the existing quarry to the original surrounding ground level. The imported soil and stone waste would principally comprise excess excavated materials generated by construction projects across counties Wicklow, Dublin and Wexford.

The application said the working hours of the facility would be from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and from 8am to 2pm on selected Saturdays.

The developers told the board the volumes envisaged work out at 28 to 30 individual HGV/truck movements in or out of the site every operating hour. They said the projected life of the facility would be between 8.2 years and 17.6 years.

‘Horrified’

Locals have said they are horrified at the idea of dozens of lorries travelling on the rural area’s roads every hour of the working day.

They have also taken issue with an identified route which takes the lorries around a road south of the Beehive Pub, over which there was a 20-year campaign for a bypass on safety grounds.

Cllr Tom Fortune said many of his colleagues were shocked when the plans were put before councillors at a recent meeting.

In addition to the roads issue, he said, there were serious concerns about about potential run-off from the landfill into wetlands, the possible environmental impact and tourism implications for the nearby National Botanic Gardens at Kilmacurragh, which is an internationally recognised arboretum .

Cllr Pat Kennedy, who lives near the quarry, said he was “disappointed” that negotiations with the developer were seemingly ongoing while he was cathaoirleach of the council but he was not told.

Local resident Keith Hutchinson said a public meeting would on the proposed quarry would be held in the Green Angel, formerly The Tap pub, on August 25th at 7pm. He urged local residents to attend.

Kilsaran Concrete was contacted about the matter but declined to comment on the application.