Archive for the 'Incineration' Category

Cllr. Donnelly welcomes Minister Gormley’s clarification of waste policy for all planning authorities

Published June 3, 2009 Cork Harbour , Economy , Environment , Incineration , National Issues , Planning , Ringaskiddy , Waste Leave a Comment

3rd June 2009

Department of Environment circular to all planning authorities makes it clear that mechanical and biological treatments, not incineration, are to be the cornerstones of national waste policy in the future

The Green Party’s candidate for the Carrigaline area of Cork County Council and for Passage West Town Council, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, has welcomed the letter which has been circulated to all planning authorities around the country from the Department of the Environment, which clarifies that waste policy in the country is changing, with the emphasis switching away from incineration towards mechanical and biological treatment. This circular comes in advance of the full review of national waste policy which is currently being undertaken by consultants Eunomia, and which is due to be complete in July.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “This clarification that incineration is no longer a cornerstone of national waste policy, coupled with the recent introduction of an incineration levy comparable to the landfill levy, is highly significant for the planning application currently before An Bord Pleanála for two incinerators at Ringaskiddy. The oral hearing for that application is due to resume next Monday, and surely the message is coming loud and clear from Government that incineration is no longer part of Government policy. Given that when the Ringaskiddy incinerators were granted planning five years ago by An Bord Pleanála it was solely on the basis that it was Government policy, this clarification from Minister Gormley, I think now makes it impossible for the board to reasonably grant planning for the Ringaskiddy incinerators.”

“As well as this circular, and the recent incineration levies, I have seen the text of an order which Minister Gormley will be issuing next week, which in effect reinstates the Proximity Principle. This effectively means that any incinerator or landfill can only accept waste from whichever of the eight waste management regions in which it is situated. The Ringaskiddy incinerators would therefore be only able to accept waste from within County Cork. This really makes them non-viable financially, and so should be another nail in their coffin,” continued Cllr. Donnelly.

Cllr. Donnelly concluded: “With this series of measures introduced by Minister Gormley in recent weeks, I hope it is now patently clear that incineration is no longer a key component of national waste management policy. While an outright ban on incineration is not currently possible due to existing planning permissions in Poolbeg in Dublin, and in Carranstown, Co. Meath, it is now clear that Government policy is heading in that direction. Incineration is so clearly not the way we should be dealing with our waste. A proper waste industry based on reuse, recycling within this country, and mechanical and biological treatments is the only policy that makes any sense, both in terms of economics and the environment.”

 

Full text of Department of the Envrionment circular to planning authorities:

May 2009

Update on progress in respect of implementing the waste management provisions of the Programme for Government

 I am directed by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to update you on progress in respect of implementing the waste management provisions of the Programme for Government, and in particular the commitment to conduct an international review of waste management policy. 

 The Programme for Government makes major commitments in relation to national waste policy. In particular, there is an emphasis on moving away from the high reliance on incineration foreseen in the National Development Plan and reflected in the regional waste management plans for which the local authorities have statutory responsibility, generally operating in regional groupings. In this regard it is intended that there be an increased commitment to the use of alternative technologies, including those known as mechanical and biological treatment.

 The Department’s Statement of Strategy 2008-2010, which is published on the Department’s web site and which was noted by Government in July 2008, states:

 ”The new Programme for Government indicates a further development of waste and resource policy in the direction of sustainability, in particular, to move away from mass burn incineration towards alternative technologies and to minimise waste going to landfill, subject to the outcome of the review of the waste management strategy. This major international review being undertaken by the Department will address how best to implement waste prevention and minimisation, and the emergence of new technologies in waste management.”

 Progress on the review of waste management strategy

Consultants have been retained to conduct the study of waste policy options which will underpin the conclusion of the overall review later this year. This work is well advanced and a series of interim reports has been considered by the Review Steering Group. It is considered that the study itself should be concluded on time, July 2009, with policy proposals being brought to Government shortly thereafter.

 Interim policy measures

While this work is on target, it is acknowledged that progress towards meeting Ireland’s targets under the Landfill Directive and the requirements of the recently adopted Waste Framework Directive cannot wait. Therefore the Minister is pressing ahead with key initiatives which are compatible with the overall objectives of the review in order to meet the targets. These include:

  • increase in the landfill levy and the introduction of a levy on incineration;
  • roll-out of brown bin collections;
  • intensifying efforts to promote at source/home composting;
  • supporting small-scale local composting initiatives;
  • encouraging access to waste streams for composting/anaerobic digestion, recycling and other processes high on the waste hierarchy; and,
  • source segregated collection of commercial biowaste.

 The Minister has also initiated a Strategic Environmental Assessment on proposed policy directions to the EPA and local authorities which would (in relation to their functions under the Waste Management Acts and any instruments made thereunder), inter alia, require the recipients to:

  • limit incineration capacity to ensure that waste is not drawn to incineration which could have been dealt with by recycling or other methods higher up the waste hierarchy;
  • refrain from exercising their powers in such a way as to direct waste to landfill or incineration.

 The proposed policy direction is subject to consultation with both the public and all stakeholders, including local authorities.

 The above are interim actions intended to help meet the Landfill Directive targets while implementing the commitments in the Programme for Government. The Minister considers that they are in line with the policies emerging from the overall review.

 Queries in relation to this Circular may be addressed to the undersigned. 

 Yours sincerely,

­­­­­­Michael Layde

Principal Officer – Waste Policy: Review and Regulation

Cllr. Donnelly says the people of Cork Harbour will never allow the incinerators to be built

Published May 15, 2009 Amenity , Cork Harbour , Cork Swansea Ferry , Environment , Heritage , Incineration , Marine , Monkstown , Passage West , Ringaskiddy , Transport , Waste Leave a Comment

15th May 2009

Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for Cork County Council, addressed the An Bord Pleanála oral hearing into the Ringaskiddy incinerators yesterday.  The hearing has now adjourned for the next three weeks.

After the hearing, Cllr. Donnelly, who is a member of the CHASE steering committee, said:  “In my presentation to the An Bord Pleanála inspector I focused on three main areas.  The first of these was that the direction of development in Cork Harbour has changed, away from being a purely industrial zone to becoming a centre for tourism, culture and amenity.  With the closure of the steelworks and the IFI fertilizer factory, Cork Harbour now has the chance to reach its potential as a premium waterfront destination.  The Cork Area Strategic Plan calls Cork Harbour ‘Europe’s most exciting waterfront’, and while it certainly has the potential to achieve that, it has not yet done so.  However with plans to open up Spike Island to visitors, existing planning permissions for marinas at Monkstown and Passage West, the return next year of the Cork Swansea ferry service, and with ongoing efforts to have Cork City and Harbour achieve UNESCO World Heritage Site status, the impetus for development has clearly changed.  The building of a huge obtrusive incinerator in the middle of all of this, would surely scupper any chance of Cork Harbour achieving the global recognition it should have.  Sydney Harbour has its iconic Opera House, Cork Harbour would have a monstrous incinerator.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued:  “I also discussed how my Green Party colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley, has made clear statements as to how national waste policy is changing.  Given that five years ago the incinerator was granted planning permission solely on the basis that it was Government policy, it is crucial that the inspector and the board understand that Government policy is shifting.  While the full review of waste policy is still underway, and won’t be ready until the Autumn, the Minister has made many clear indications that the policy has shifted away from incineration.  For example he recently indicated that there will be a doubling of the landfill levies later this year, with the introduction of a similar incineration levy, with the express intent of making it less economically viable to landfill or burn our waste, and to encourage waste minimisation, recycling and reuse.”

“I finished my presentation by focusing on how there is absolutely no community acceptance for the incinerators in the communities around the harbour, and beyond into the wider Cork community.  These communities have fought the incinerators for eight years already unbowed, and will continue to fight for as long as it takes.  I told the inspector that it would save our communities a lot of future grief is she refused this planning application now, but that the communities would never allow the incinerators to be built, whatever that takes,” concluded Cllr. Donnelly.

The full text of Cllr. Donnelly’s oral presentation to An Bord Pleanála is available at:  http://dominickdonnelly.com/links/dominicks-oral-submission-to-indaver-oral-hearing/

Dominick’s oral submission to An Bord Pleanala on Ringaskiddy incinerators

Published May 14, 2009 Amenity , Cork Harbour , Cork Swansea Ferry , Economy , Energy , Environment , Heritage , Incineration , Marine , Ringaskiddy , Waste Leave a Comment

Click on link:  http://dominickdonnelly.com/links/dominicks-oral-submission-to-indaver-oral-hearing/

Cllr. Donnelly welcomes Minister Gormley’s initiative, which will help create thousands of jobs in the Irish recycling industry

Published May 13, 2009 Economy , Environment , Incineration , Waste Leave a Comment

13th May 2009

Minister for Environment launches new Market Development Plan to create jobs from waste currently exported

Mr John Gormley, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government today launched an innovative €13 million Market Development Programme to develop new markets and help create new Irish jobs by transforming waste into new sustainable products.  Targeting entrepreneurs, third level institutions, manufacturers and waste organisations, over the next five years, the Market Development Programme will identify and help develop markets for a variety of waste streams including plastics, paper, metals, organics, glass and wood.  Entrepreneurs interested in creating new businesses from waste can get further information at www.mdg.ie.

Green Party member of Passage West Town Council, and candidate for Cork County Council, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, who co-authored the Green Party’s waste policy and who is very involved with CHASE in fighting the Ringaskiddy incinerators, said:  “I welcome this initiative from Minister Gormley, which will help create a proper recycling industry in Ireland.  In the past recycling in Ireland was only seen as the segregation of waste into different waste streams.  Most of this was then exported to be reprocessed into something useful somewhere else.  However a proper recycling industry in Ireland, where we treat our waste as a valuable resource, will create literally thousands of jobs and will be a huge boost to the Irish economy.  This announcement from Minister Gormley is a first step along that road, where waste is no longer a problem, but is a valuable resource.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued:  “I used to own and run the first green shop in Ireland, All That’s Green in Kinsale, where I used to import and sell many products made from recycled materials, such as stationery and plastics.  Almost none of these recycled products came from Ireland.  It struck me then how we should be treating all waste as a valuable resource, and turning it back into products which we can sell.  The days of burying waste in a hole in the ground, or even worse, burning it in an incinerator, are thankfully coming to an end, and this Market Development Programme is very much part of the way forward.”

“I welcome this as the start of a new dawn in Ireland.  I have been advocating for many years that we must not treat waste as a problem, but rather see it as a resource for recycling and reuse.  This is the start of a whole new industry for Ireland, and I encourage all entrepreneurs to get involved,” concluded Cllr. Donnelly.

The people of Cork will not be taken in by Indaver’s flowery language, says Cllr. Donnelly

Published May 5, 2009 Cork Harbour , Environment , Incineration , Ringaskiddy Leave a Comment

5th May 2009

As the second week of the An Bord Pleanála oral hearing into the application by Indaver Ireland to build two incinerators in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork begins, the Green Party’s candidate for the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council and for Passage West Town Council, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, has criticised Indaver for trying to hide from the public the true magnitude of the effects their incinerators would have.

“For most of last week, when Indaver were presenting their case to An Bord Pleanála, their “experts” hid behind impenetrable and obscure language, which the ordinary members of the public had no hope in understanding.  In fact the Inspector reprimanded them for this.  When Indaver did eventually condescend to speak in more ordinary language, they made it sound as if what they planned to build would have no more impact on the people of Cork than if they were planting a flower garden.  They claimed their incinerators would have such little effect on health, visual amenity, traffic, property values, wildlife, pollution, etc, that any community should be welcoming them with open arms ,” Cllr. Donnelly said.

“However the people of Cork are not so gullible as to be taken in by this hogwash.  The communities around the lower harbour are resolute in their opposition to Indaver’s proposal, and have very good reasons for opposing these incinerators so vehemently.  We know that these incinerators would have permanent detrimental effects on the quality of life of those living anywhere close to Cork Harbour, and we are not willing to accept those risks.  We know that incinerators are bad for our health, particularly for young children and the unborn.  We now that this will create a bad perception of Cork Harbour as the country’s dumping ground.  We know that building incinerators at the end of a peninsula with only one main road in makes no planning sense.  We know that the scale of the building proposed would be a permanent blot on the wonderful visual landscape of Cork Harbour.  However we also know that we will do everything in our power to prevent this happening, as we have clearly shown over the past eight years,” Cllr. Donnelly concluded.

Cork County Council must check out the ownership of Gobby Beach car park in Ringaskiddy, says Cllr. Donnelly

Published April 29, 2009 Amenity , Cork Harbour , Incineration , Ringaskiddy Leave a Comment

29th April 2009 

The car park at Gobby Beach in Ringaskiddy has been put on the market by the liquidator for Irish Ispat, through auctioneers Lisney at their Cork office.  Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, the Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for Cork County Council for the Douglas area, has asked Cork County Council to check out the ownership of this car park, as local residents always thought it belonged to the county council, and the county council have maintained the car park, and have put bottle banks on it.

 

Cllr. Donnelly said:  “I have asked Declan Daly, the Divisional Manager for the South Cork area, to check into the ownership of this car park.  The local understanding is that this car park is already owned by Cork County Council, but it has recently been put up for sale by the liquidator of Irish Ispat through Lisney’s auctioneers.  If it transpires that Cork County Council do not own the car park, then I urge them to acquire it as an essential piece of local infrastructure.”

 

“It is essential that this car park stays in public ownership, as it is well used by the general public, and is the only access to Gobby Beach, one of very few beaches in Cork Harbour.  The auctioneer has informed me that a sale of this car park was negotiated with the Office of Public Works a few years ago, but it did not proceed.  Really the only logical owner for this car park is the local authority, and they must investigate this as a matter of urgency,”  continued Cllr. Donnelly.

 

Additional Information:  The Gobby Beach car park is at the end of the Ringaskiddy peninsula, near the bridge to Haulbowline and adjacent to Indaver’s site, where they are currently applying to build two incinerators.

New format for incinerator oral hearing is fairer for the community, says Cllr. Donnelly

Published April 28, 2009 Cork Harbour , Environment , Incineration , Ringaskiddy Leave a Comment

27th April 2009

At the oral hearing for the Ringaskiddy incinerators which started today, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for Cork County Council for the Carrigaline electoral area, was pleased that the Bord Plenála inspector changed her mind, and went for a fairer format for the community.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “The format originally proposed by the inspector was completely unfair to the community, as the applicant Indaver would have been able to present new material on a particular module, and the community would have had to respond immediately, without being able to consult the experts in that area.  At least now the applicant has to present all their material first, over the next number of days, and the community will have time to consider the material and respond accordingly, seeking specialist expertise where necessary.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued:  “It is still unfair that the applicant is being allowed present substantial new material at the hearing.  This puts the community at a disadvantage, as there will be little time to analyse the new material and formulate the response.  This hearing is going to take a herculean effort from the harbour communities over the next number of weeks.”

Dominick’s written submission to An Bord Pleanala on Ringaskiddy incinerators

Published April 27, 2009 Cork Harbour , Energy , Environment , Heritage , Incineration , Ringaskiddy Leave a Comment

http://dominickdonnelly.com/links/written-submission-to-an-bord-pleanala-on-ringaskiddy-incinerators/

Cllr. Donnelly is confident incinerators will not get planning permission

Published April 27, 2009 Cork Harbour , Energy , Environment , Incineration , Ringaskiddy Leave a Comment

26th April 2009

The oral hearing for the Ringaskiddy incinerators starts on Monday 27th April, and will proceed for about three weeks.  Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for Cork County Council for the Carrigaline electoral area, who has been part of the steering committee of CHASE (Cork Harbour Area for a Safe Environment) for the past eight years, is confident that finally the threat of the incinerators in Cork Harbour will be refused at this oral hearing.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “At the last An Bord Pleanála oral hearing into the Ringaskiddy incinerators over five years ago, the only reason planning permission was granted was on the grounds that incineration was part of Government policy at the time.  That is clearly not the case any more.  The Minister for the Environment John Gormley has made a number of statements to that effect, in advance of the complete review of waste management policy due later this year.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued:  “A number of other things are different this time, which should make it impossible for Indaver to get planning permission.  An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for an incinerator in Rathcoole in Co. Dublin, on grounds which can largely be replicated in Ringaskiddy.  Also the board refused the Port of Cork planning permission in Ringaskiddy last year for their container terminal on transport grounds, which would also apply to the incinerators, albeit to a lesser extent.  Also the Department of the Environment have put in a very strongly worded submission on this application, in which they show that Indaver have basically ignored the fact that their proposed incinerators are in very close proximity to Special Areas of Conservation in Cork Harbour, such as Monkstown Creek and Loughbeg.  All of this adds up to it hopefully being inevitable this will be the end of the road for the threat of incineration in Cork Harbour.”

Cllr. Donnelly welcomes announcement of oral hearing for Ringaskiddy incinerators

Published April 15, 2009 Cork Harbour , Environment , Incineration Leave a Comment

27th March 2009

Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, the Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council, has welcomed the announcement from An Bord Pleanála that they will conduct an oral hearing into the application by Indaver Ireland to build two incinerators (one for municipal waste and one for toxic waste), starting on the 27th April at the Cork Airport Hotel.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “For those of us who have been fighting these incinerators for the past eight years, the announcement of this oral hearing is welcome news, as I am confident that this oral hearing will kill off Indaver’s ridiculous and dangerous proposals, once and for all.  The communities around the lower harbour have developed huge expertise in fighting planning applications such as this, and I am confident that by presenting a united front in opposition to this proposal, it will finally be defeated this time.”

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Photos of Dominick

Dominick Donnelly and Dan Boyle unveiling Dominick's anti-incineration poster at Shannonpark roundabout, Carrigaline

Dominick's anti-incineration poster

Dominick with his three sons, Theo, Noah and Tate

Dominick with Green Party Deputy Leader Mary White in Douglas Court SC

Cork South Central Local Election candidates with Mary White in Douglas Court SC

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