Large Turnout For A Meeting In Littleton Regarding Planning Application For A Biomethane Plant

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Almost 200 people attended a meeting in Littleton last night regarding community concerns about a planning application for a Biomethane plant at Killough Quarry submitted by Roadstone.

The meeting was organised by the Killough Biogas Concern Committee led by James Flanagan. Four local councillors Jim Ryan, Sean Ryan, Micheál Lowry and Michael Brennan all attended the meeting. The audience were given four presentations including two from community activists in Macroom and Swinford that are also objecting to the construction of Biomethane plants in their area The Swinford application was refused by An Bord Pleanála but the community says a further application cannot be ruled out.

Aine McCann, an Environmental Scientist, reviewed her technical concerns with the Killough application and how she considers it poses a risk especially to a significant underground water aquifer that runs from north of Killough to close to Tipperary town. Other hazards include the fact that the plant would be co-located with an active quarry with low seismic activity recorded when blasting takes place. The community is also concerned about extra traffic and the impact on property values if the facility is approved.  The meeting closed with a presentation on how to make a planning submission for which the deadline is February 16th(TipperaryCoco Planning reference 2560019).

The National Biomethane Strategy adopted by the Government last year is intended to support the development of 150 to 200 such plants across the country with the Government also allocating €40M last year in grants towards the capital costs of such projects. The meeting heard that the Draft Strategy had included a commitment to publish Planning Guidelines for such facilities – this was not included in the final Strategy adopted by the Government.