PLANS TO LOCATE a sewage plant in Clonshaugh have been described as “outrageous”.

Fianna Fail Senator Averil Power has described as outrageous Fingal County Council’s announcement that Clonshaugh, north Dublin, has been chosen as the location of a new “monster” sewage plant.

She said she had campaigned strongly against the selection of Clonshaugh “as it is an entirely inappropriate location for a plant of this scale”.

The proposed site is immediately adjacent to over 2,500 homes in the Clonshaugh, Priorswood and Darndale area and close to other housing developments in Belmayne, Clongriffin and Clare Hall.

Power said that the decision “will directly impact thousands of families and residents objected to this proposal. Their concerns are valid and yet they have been completely ignored”.

While Senator Power said she accepts that the waste water treatment capacity of North Dublin must be increased, she said she “absolutely rejects” that a plant of this size is appropriate for Clonshaugh.

It would make far more sense, economically and environmentally, to build a number of smaller, localised plants which could be phased in over time. This is regarded as best practice internationally.

Senator Power said she intends to continue fighting against this proposal, adding that further technical investigations must take place and a planning application still has to be made and approved.

Fianna Fáil is calling on the Environment Minister Phil Hogan to put a stop to the plans for the plant.

Dublin Senator Darragh O’Brien said it is “appalling” that the plans have got to such an advanced stage, adding that approximately €18 million has already been spent on the planning and design of it, with the overall cost expected to reach “close to €1 billion”.

Local Cllr Eoghan O’Brien, who has campaigned against the development for more than two years, vowed to step up his opposition to locating the plant in a residential area in Fingal.

Campaign

Meanwhile, campaign group Reclaim Fingal Alliance (RFA) has vowed to “step up its battle” against the treatment plant anywhere in the area.

Brian Hosford, RFA chairman, said that more than 10,000 residents had lodged objections against the facility:

We are still opposed to this no matter where it is going. We don’t agree with a large single plant anywhere.

The group wants a full cost benefit analysis as part a new strategic environmental assessment to examine population changes, the state of the country’s finances, and the economic and social consequences of a potential environmental disaster.

“The fact that this is going to cost half a billion euro to the economy at this time is crazy,” Hosford added.

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