Country Clean told they have to resubmit plan

RECYCLING company Country Clean will have to resubmit a planning application for a waste transfer and recycling facility in Little Island.

Cork County Council has deemed a 6,625 square metre planning application at Courtstown Industrial Estate — which also included a two-storey office block, ESB substation, three weighbridges and 23 parking spaces — as “invalid.”

Councillor Padraig O’Sullivan (FF) said the application was deemed invalid on a technicality and the company is likely to resubmit, prompting concerns relating to traffic, environmental impacts and odour.

“The site for this facility at Courtstown Industrial Estate is in my opinion, wholly unsuitable as it is zoned for future residential development. I’m also unhappy with the level of public consultation by County Clean with the local community.

“I also have a concern as to whether the Carrigrennan Waste Water Treatment Plant has capacity for such a development and whether it’s permissible under its licence provided by the Environmental Protection Agency,” he added.

A spokesperson for Country Clean told the Evening Echo that the company is trying to address a shortage of waste facilities in Cork and has engaged with local people regarding their plans.

“For all of the population of Cork City and County there are very few state of the art Material Recovery Facility’s in Cork,” they said.

“Cork city and County is going to be the fastest growing region over the next 20 years and currently, there is a shortage of the correct infrastructure to deal with the waste being generated in Cork. A new state-of-the-art Material Recovery Facility will massively improve recycling rates and curb illegal dumping.

“We have engaged with the local community and businesses in the local area through direct communication and an open evening held at the Radisson Little island on the 30th of October where we went through the plans for the state of the art Material Recovery Facility.

“We got a lot of positive feedback and are making some changes to the plans stemming from that feedback.

“We accept that there will be opposition generated by local residents and councillors as is their right and that is part and parcel of planning applications these days,” they added. The company has stated it is happy to provide copies of the plans to anyone requesting them.