The main objectors to Greenstar Holding Ltd’s winning bid to get permission to accept waste from Connacht and the rest of the country at its dump in Killagh More have voiced their disappointment but admitted the fight is over.
The former mayor of Galway County, Michael Mullins, has been a vocal opponent to the ending of regional restrictions and he told the Galway Advertiser, “Obviously I’m disappointed with the decision but I’ll have to accept it. I felt that only the waste from Connacht should be taken in there, and not from greater area outside of there. And I felt the waste their licence allowed was already being taken in from Connacht.”
He added, “The community will also be disappointed. When the landfill eventually arrived here it wasn’t welcome but it was there on the understanding that it was going to take in waste from Connacht.
“People certainly never anticipated or didn’t expect that it would be allowed take in waste from other counties.”
The Kilconnell, New Inn, Cappaghtaggle Anti-Dump Group also objected to the move by Greenstar.
Spokesperson Tomas Finn voiced his disappointment.
He said, “We’re terribly disappointed but not surprised.”
He added that the reasoning behind Greenstar’s argument for a lift on the regional restriction ban was heavily flawed.
“They [Greenstar] argued that we needed a landfill for Connacht at the time before its opening, and now there isn’t a enough waste in Connacht? It makes a joke of their original argument.”
He added, “This is the end of the process now” but said the group would be vigilant of the dump and would fight to ensure Greenstar would not look to extend the life of the dump beyond 10 years.
This paper tried to contact a Greenstar spokesperson for comment on the case. We received this statement from the company: “Greenstar welcomes the decision by An Bord Pleanala to lift the regional restriction for Greenstar’s residual landfill facility in Kilconnell, which brings its planning permission in line with current waste policy.
“The removal of this restriction will have no affect on the amount of waste that is accepted at the Kilconnell facility, which is licensed to dispose of 100,000 tonnes of municipal waste per year. In addition, Greenstar will continue to accept waste predominantly from within the Connaught Waste Management region.
