An environmental group has confirmed it will lodge an appeal with An Bord Pleanála after Cork County Council decided to grant planning permission for a €12 million waste recovery facility including a sludge drying unit near a popular seaside town.
Youghal Environmental Safety (YES) will argue that AVR-Environmental Solutions' plan for the waste recovery facility at Foxhole in Youghal is at odds with the Cork Area Strategic Plan.
The company - which is a joint venture operation by AVR-Safeway in Fermoy and SWS Natural Resources in Bandon - was granted planning permission for the facility at Foxhole on the eastern side of Youghal last week.
Planning permission was granted for a waste recovery and transfer facility incorporating a waste recovery and transfer building, an administration building, a sludge reception building, a sludge drying building and a waste water treatment plant.
The plant will have the capacity to cater for 100,000 tonnes of waste annually, including 30,000 tonnes of industrial sludge. The facility is expected to employ 17 people initially. But YES spokesman Mr Fred Rigney said there was growing concern in Youghal about the proposal and he accused AVR-Environmental Solutions of failing to consult with the local community in any meaningful way.
"There have been a number of conditions attached to the planning permission - some 33 or so - but most of them are very standard development ones about protecting hedgerows, putting up a stone entrance - nothing that seriously addresses our concerns.
"Our appeal to An Bord Pleanála will be based on our original submission to Cork County Council which is that such a development is totally inappropriate for Youghal given that the Cork Area Strategic Plan clearly identifies Youghal as a heritage and tourist town," he said.
A spokesperson for AVR-Environmental Solutions said the company had made information available to people in Youghal through a public information meeting in November and the proposal had also gone through a full and open planning procedure.
The spokesperson said a waste transfer plant was permitted under the Cork County Development Plan 2003 which zoned the site for industrial use.
The primary activity would be the recovery of recyclable materials such as cardboard, paper, plastic, metals, wood, glass and electrical equipment while the industrial sludge which would be treated was non-hazardous biological sludge, the spokesperson added.
Both the separation and bailing of waste and the drying of sludge would take place inside specially designed buildings while the sludge would be delivered in covered skips and use the latest odour abatement technology.
