Connacht's regional waste strategy has been thrown into confusion by Galway Corporation's decision to reject thermal treatment without voting formally on the draft plan.
However, the plan involving a combination of thermal treatment, landfill and recycling is still "on the table", according to its author, as all six local authorities in Connacht had agreed last year to a regional strategy.
Leitrim County Council approved it on Monday - the same day Galway Corporation took its unusual step - and four other local authorities are still due to consider it, Mr P.J. Rudden of M.C. O'Sullivan Consultants said yesterday.
Mr Rudden said he was seeking clarification on the legal aspect of the unanimous motion approved by the 15 Galway city councillors, given that it was an amendment to the motion before the chamber. The 15 members agreed without a vote on a joint waste plan for the city and county only, rather than a regional plan for the six Connacht authorities. The councillors opted for maximum recycling and the option of putting the rest of the city's waste in a new landfill site, subject to discussion with Galway County Council.
The decision was welcomed yesterday by the Green Party, the Connacht/Ulster MEP, Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon, and by Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE), which had staged a silent protest outside City Hall on Monday evening. The Green Party TD, Mr Trevor Sargent, said that as Galway had now rejected incineration, which he described as the most expensive waste strategy option, savings should be directed towards a "zero waste" policy. The Connacht/Ulster MEP, Ms Scallon, said the waste management plan must now "go back to the drawing board". The GSE spokesman, Dr Conchur O Bradaigh, said the decision was an "extremely brave one", and the councillors deserved "every credit" for rejecting the thermal treatment proposal. "We are calling on Galway Corporation to immediately implement a programme of home and central composting, to be followed as soon as possible with a city-wide source separation and kerbside collection of recyclables".
The proposal thermal treatment plant is an integral part of the plan, which aims to reduce landfill and increase recycling to a target of 47 per cent of waste. Mr Rudden said thermal treatment did not become an issue until a shortlist of four potential sites were earmarked on the east side of Galway for its location. The consultants aimed to reduce landfill dependence from 90 per cent to 20 per cent if thermal treatment was introduced. Currently, the Poolboy dump in Ballinasloe is under severe pressure as it is taking all of the city and county waste.
Last year Ballinasloe residents reached an out-of-court settlement with Galway County Council over the continued use of Poolboy landfill dump until 2005, but it is now believed it may have to close before then.
Mr Rudden said he respected the decision of the elected representatives, but Galway now ran the risk of trebling its landfill disposal. This had "huge implications" for both Galway and the other counties in Connacht, he said. The issue is due to come before Galway County Council in September.
An Taisce's Galway branch described the corporation's decision as "historic" and said local authorities in the west would have to sit down and work with the public in working out a waste policy.
