News from down the country

national | environment | news report Tuesday June 02, 2009 22:39 by Contaminated Crow

A telemast, two quarries, wind turbines and high-voltage powerlines

Local anger at the erection of a telecom mast at the garda station near the Main Street of Stradbally, Co. Laois, following a 10-year opposition campaign in the town, was expressed by Dominic Hartnett who condemned Laois County Council for facilitating the applicant and ignoring community feeling on the issue: ‘As chairperson of the Stradbally Development Association and community secretary for the mast campaign I feel the last ten years, and in particular our great win in 2008, has been devalued’. (Laois Nationalist 29/5/09, p. 1).

An Bord Pleanala has rejected objections by local residents and the Kilronan Mountain Environmental Action Group (KMEAG) to continued operation and expansion of a quarry operated near Geevagh, Co. Sligo by Hillside Quarries Ltd. KMEAG raised concern over the quarry’s effects on the local landscape while local families, alleging the quarrying began only recently and then as an unauthorized development, expressed concerns over operating methods and dirt and dust problems from the quarry. (Sligo Weekender 26/5/09, p. 6).

Residents of Cloonlusk and Cloonina, near Tuam, Co. Galway, are appealing to An Bord Pleanala against the granting of permission for two wind turbines in the area, claiming that the turbines will be a severe visual intrusion on the local landscape and adversely impact on the concentration of residential homes around the site, while they also note the turbines will be located in an archaeologically significant area and a childrens’ burial ground is also in the immediate area. (Connacht Tribune 29/5/09, p. 14).

The Hill of Allen Action Group (HAAG), which had campaigned against Roadstone’s quarrying there, has claimed its opposition has been vindicated by a recent decision of the government to amend the planning legislation on quarries. This government decision comes on foot of an 18-month investigation by Friends of the Irish Environment which revealed a widespread lack of enforcement and compliance with relevant legislation, resulting in an admission by the government that the Planning and Development Act 2000 (under an obscure section of which Roadstone avoided applying for planning permission for its activities on the Hill of Allen) ‘did not provide a mechanism for pursuing legal proceedings for non-compliance’. HAAG called for retrospective appliance of the promised amendments so that ‘we can re-open the disastrous agreement between Roadstone and Kildare County Council’, while also organizing a march to the Hill on Saturday May 30th in protest at the destruction of heritage and monuments around the country. (Leinster Leader 28/5/09, p. 2).

North-East Pylon Pressure (NEPP) denounced Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan as being ‘no longer fit for public office’ after he commented that the undergrounding of high voltage electricity cables is ‘not technically feasible’ during a visit to Counties Meath and Monaghan, pointing out this contradicted statements in a report the Minister had himself commissioned. (Northern Standard 28/5/09, p. 14). Last week NEPP published full-page advertisements in local papers in Counties Cavan, Meath and Monaghan making the case for undergrounding the InterConnector.