Mannok submit new quarrying application

Mannok Cement Ltd is seeking planning permission to allow the company quarry for sand and gravel at a new site on the outskirts Ballyconnell for the next two decades.

The plans submitted to Cavan County Council concern lands to the west of the L1045 Killeshandra Road, Clontygrigny and Callaghs, approximately four kilometres south of Ballyconnell.

The lands were previously managed for commercial forestry purposes.

Due for approval by mid-May, Mannok is seeking permission to extract minerals over an area of 19.3ha, to a final depth of up to 54mAOD.

The application also allows for the loading and transportation of materials from the site; the construction of a new site entrance and wheel wash, internal haul roads and earthen screening bunds; the restoration of the site to biodiversity and agricultural uses thereafter; and all ancillary works related to same.

The application is accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR), and planning permission is sought for a period of up to 20 years.

The EIAR submitted along with the application outlines how Mannok conducted a search for sites that contained sand and gravel resources within “reasonable proximity” (9.2km) to the existing company processing site at Gortmullan, Co Fermanagh.

A “number of alternative design options” were also considered, the council planners were told.

The proposed development will be undertaken in three main phases - establishment, extraction and restoration, and final restoration.

It is anticipated the site will be “worked” at a rate of 100,000 tonnes per annum, with 29 HGV movements expected per day, or the equivalent of three vehicles per hour at “peak” times.

Along with HGVs, there will be 10 light vehicles coming and going to the site, totalling 39 movements per day, or an average of four per hour.

Mannok says this increase in traffic equates to just a “2% to 3%” increase, and “will not result” in traffic queuing or delays.

Mannok claim there will be a “negligible risk” caused to the water table by the quarrying activity.

A Noise Impact Assessment (NIA) has also been prepared by consultant Mervyn Keegan, with levels predicted to be in accordance with limits set at 55 decibels. Even still, mitigation measures will also be incorporated, employing methods to “minimise and control potential dust emissions from the proposed activities.

These measures will form an integral part of the operational procedures for the sand and gravel pit operations”.

A traffic management and Ecological Impact Assessment were also conducted.

The EIA was carried out by Adrian Walsh and Emmeline Cosnett of Woodrow Sustainable Solutions identified how the proposed development might impact upon breeding birds, bats and mammals. This will be mitigated against by limiting tree clearing and hedgerow removal during bird breeding season and the “avoidance of impact on perimeter hedgerows”.

Mannok further envisages that the impact and effect of the proposed quarrying operation will be “no more than minor”.

Slieve Russell office extension

Meanwhile, the Slieve Russell Hotel has applied to council planner for permission to develop a first floor extension, built off the existing single-storey space to the rear of the Woodford and Erne Suite at the rear of the main hotel.

This will be to provide administration offices for the hotel, and extend to 206 sqm.

The height of the proposed single storey structure will run from 4.2m to 7.3m above existing ground level.

A decision on the application is due May 22.