‘Every submission matters’ in Cork incinerator fight
Those behind a gruelling 24 year fight against a proposed incinerator in Cork Harbour are calling for one last stand against the project.
Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE) are urging the Cork public to submit their objections online by 5.30pm this coming Monday (17 November).
To make a submission, visit chasecorkharbour.com to be directed to the relevant section of the An Coimisiún Pleanála’s (previously an Bord Pleanála) website.
Belgian waste solutions company Indaver initially obtained the site in Ringaskiddy in 2001 but have twice been unsuccessful in securing planning permission to go ahead with the incinerator. The company’s current application is a continuation of its failed 2016 effort.
CHASE has held a series public meetings in recent weeks and the group say the mood amongst locals is “very engaged and very angry”.
“They're angry that it's back again despite the fact that three Bord Pleanála inspectors found the site unsuitable,” CHASE member Linda Fitzpatrick said.
The group is confident there will be large numbers of submissions made against the proposed incinerator and that, if rejected again, it could be the last they see of Indaver in the region.
Ms Fitzpatrick said: “Get your submission in online. We believe that every submission matters here.
“We are asking for a straight out refusal this time.
“We really feel that the site is so unsuitable that if it gets refused this time, it's very difficult for them to come back.
“It's very inappropriate for them to come back because the whole area around the site has changed completely since the first picked the site in 2001. It was a blank peninsula back in 2001, whereas now there’s a centre of education and research and growing tourism and Fáilte Ireland’s plans to create a Cork Harbour destination experience.
“On top of that, then there’s coastal erosion on one side of the site and then the other side of the site has been taken by the new motorway, so the site is after shrinking.”
CHASE also believe that Indaver themselves wouldn’t choose the site in Ringaskiddy today had the company not already acquired it over two decades ago.
“It really is about making their money from the site they own. We don't believe for one minute if they were doing a meaningful new site selection that they would possibly land on this site,” said Ms Fitzpatrick.
Another concern, if the incinerator was to go ahead, is that it might set a precedent for other firms to come in and build, however Ms Fitzpatrick believes Indaver have been “clustered out of it” by the rezoning of surrounding land and the proximity of the National Maritime College of Ireland and the MaREI Research Centre for Energy, Climate, and Marine.
She said: “It's a different cluster that's growing in that area; it's not a waste cluster and they just have to move out of the way.”
The Cork Independent reached out to Indaver for comment, but the company said it had no further statements at this time.
The company had previously stated that the proposed Ringaskiddy facility is fully in line with EU, national, and regional waste policy, and that the need for such a facility in the region is greater than ever.
The deadline for public submissions for the proposed incinerator in Ringaskiddy close at 5.30pm on 17 November. To make a submission, visit chasecorkharbour.com via the QR code accompanying this article.