A second oral hearing into the siting of a 250-acre superdump in north Cork begins today in Mallow. Bottlehill Environmental Alliance will put its case against the landfill before Insp Padraic Thornton of An Bord Pleanála at the Mallow Park Hotel with 43 other objections from groups and individuals across north Cork.
News of a second oral hearing into the proposed dump came as a blow to Cork County Council which had expected to proceed with the development this month instead of entering a fresh round of oral hearings. For opposition groups, the hearing represents a second chance to highlight the detrimental effects they claim the siting of such a dump will have on their area.
"We will be putting forward a series of detailed objections on the pollution of ground and surface water, the local river system, agriculture and ecology which we believe this development will bring. An estimated 140 trucks carrying 325,000 tons of waste per year will turn what is a quite rural area into a quasi-industrial zone," said Mr John O'Riordan of the alliance.