LOCALS ON DUBLIN’S northside protested today, over Irish Water’s plans to build a wastewater treatment plant in Clonshaugh.

While locals said the plant would damage the quality of life within the community, the company, however, said last week that it is essential that it be built to serve the growing population of north Dublin and parts of Kildare and Meath.

Attendees at today’s protest include residents from Portmarnock, Santry, Baldoyle, Coolock and Clonshaugh, organisers said.

They said the location for the proposed plant had the potential to be put to numerous other uses, such as for housing.

If built, the plant would drain waste water near Baldoyle and would require digging under the Baldoyle Estuary, locals said, which is a further cause of concern.

A spokesperson for the demonstrators said: “It’s an absolute disgrace that Irish Water have chosen a greenbelt site so close to so many homes and businesses to build this monster sewerage plant. The smell from the plant will ruin our local community and will make living in this area less enjoyable than it was before.”

In a statement earlier this month, Irish Water said the development of the plan was being proposed “in order to protect public health, safeguard the environment and facilitate the social and economic growth of the Greater Dublin Area”.

It also admitted that a “small number” of supporting documents to the environmental impact assessment report were “inadvertently omitted” from the documentation it submitted to An Bord Pleanála.

A site in Clonshaugh was identified as the preferred solution, as it was the “most environmentally, socially and technically advantageous solution while also being the most cost-effective option,” according to Irish Water.

It said the new wastewater treatment facility is a “key strategic investment priority” and will support residential and commercial development in the area.

An Bord Pleanála has told Irish Water that an additional period of statutory consultation on the project is required, ending on Thursday 18 October.