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‘No revised decide-by date available’ for Corranure residents

The wait for the outcome of an oral hearing and a planing application review continues as staff issues in An Bord Pleanála have slowed down a decision on developments at Lismagratty and Corranure.

The An Bord Pleanála report on the oral hearing into the proposed waste processing and transfer facility to be operated by Wilton Waste Recycling Limited was delayed in publication last month. Last week the Board announced that the date of a decision on the anaerobic digester was also “not available at this time”.
In a correspondence with The Anglo-Celt the State body tasked with overseeing planning said: “The two cases... have reached a final stage of the process. The Board was unable to make a decision in relation to the appeals due to capacity constraints at Board level. Unfortunately, there is currently no revised decide by date available, however if you wish to get in contact with the Board’s offices towards the end of October, the Board may be in a better position to advise you further on the matter.”


Delays

At the start of August last the planning authority outlined in a statement that they were experiencing delays in deciding planning appeals and applications, but that as new Board members take up posts at An Bord Pleanála the delays will be resolved.
The application by Andrew Fay for the digester and the review of Wilton Waste Recycling Ltd's proposed waste processing and transfer facility have been put on the long finger as An Bord Pleanála focus on “strategic infrastructure, major housing developments and school projects”. Corranure resident Christopher Dooley made a statement to the planning authority's oral hearing. Mr Dooley believes that the delay shows that due consideration is being given to all sides of the matter.
“I would like to think they are deliberating over the scale of the proposal, instead of each individually. Any one of the applications are ok, but the combination of them all is going to be a huge industrial enterprise. I hope they [An Bord Pleanála] are looking at every aspect of it,” Mr Dooley said.

Fair hearing

The Corranure resident remains positive about the outcome: “Ultimately we are in their hands. At the end of the day I do respect the procedure. We got a very fair hearing at the oral hearing. What will be, will be. I hope this shows they are giving it fair consideration,” he told The Anglo-Celt.
On the other side of the debate Wilton Waste Recycling Ltd and Andrew Fay are also waiting on the decision on the applications that already represent a considerable investment.