Offaly sawmills reapplies for retention of facility

T&J Standish Sawmills in Co Offaly, which was refused planning permission for retention of its sawmills last July, has again applied to Offaly County Council for permission to retain the facility.

The business, which was successfully prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Agency for causing chromium pollution in local water courses, was the subject of a heated Bord Pleanála hearing earlier this year at which locals - members of the Aghanacon Concerned Residents' Association - successfully opposed the business continuing in its current position at Leap Castle. Leap Castle is a protected structure and one of the directors of T&J Standish, Mr Tom Standish, has a conviction for causing damage to the structure.

Offaly County Council, which is the planning enforcement agency for Bord Pleanála rulings, admitted last November that it had not visited the site since the planning board judgment, which it said it had referred to its legal advisers.

Following the Bord Pleanála ruling, the sawmills took out advertising in a local newspaper reassuring its staff and customers that it would remain in operation.

The new application for retention of the existing development includes amendments to entrances, extensive landscaping, a new low-level timber storage area and an extension to the sawmilling building. The Aghanacon Concerned Residents' Association has begun High Court proceedings to force the closure of the facility.