Residents in areas earmarked for large, infrastructure projects should receive compensation in the form of community projects, Fingal county councillors have said.
They were speaking after Greater Dublin Drainage announced yesterday it had chosen Clonshaugh near Dublin Airport as the location for a new regional waste-water treatment plant.
Community gain
Three locations had been shortlisted as possible areas for the plant, the other two being Annsbrook and Newtowncorduff, both near Lusk and each with an outfall near Loughshinny, north of Rush.
Tom Kelleher (Lab) called for better incentives for councillors to take on "unwanted and unloved" infrastructure in their area.
He said it was reasonable that certain areas which ended up “carrying the burden of unloved infrastructure for the rest of us” should benefit from some sort of community gain.
Project manager Peter O’Reilly said the question of “community burden” would be looked at in the next stage of the project, but said it was a difficult area to address.
The project team will now begin an information campaign in and around the proposed area. Mr O’Reilly said they would also consult locals on how to compensate them for the burden of living so close to the site.
Addressing Fingal councillors last night, project engineers said the proposed site would lead to a saving of some €80 million on the original estimated cost of €500 million. Mr Kelleher suggested that €20 million or €30 million of that should be earmarked for community projects in the local area.
Eoghan O’Brien (FF) said people in Fingal were “massively opposed to this project”. He added: “This won’t be taken lying down.”
