Tipperary group raises concerns over traffic and lack of consultation on proposed biogas plant
A Tipperary group who are opposed to a planned biogas plant in their area say that there has been not enough consultation with them about the plans.
Andrew Kiely and Nephin Renewable Gas applied to Tipperary County Council for planning permission to develop the plant on a site at Ballynilard, outside Tipperary town.
The proposed plant would have three digesters, two digestate storage structures, and a liquid feed tank, and would produce biomethane, carbon dioxide and a bio-based fertiliser.
Earlier this year, the council deemed the original plans invalid on several grounds.
However, after dealing with the issues raised by the local authority, in September the company submitted a fresh planning application.
Jamie O’Sullivan of the Ballynilard Biogas Concern Group told the Irish Independent that the group have serious concerns about increased traffic on their rural road if the plant gets the go-ahead.
“According to their plans, this will result in 60 extra HGV trips per day, so between bringing in the feedstock, and taking away digestate and wastewater, this plant alone will increase the amount of heavy vehicles on the road by 25pc,” he claimed.
“It’s a rural road, it’s not the best quality of road, and for a lot of the houses on the road, it’s quite difficult to get out of your entrance.”
An artist's impression of what the AD plant in Ballynilard would look like. © Tipperary County Council planning portal
Mr O’Sullivan also raised concerns about the fact that much of the traffic from the plant will be going through Tipperary town, which is a well-known bottleneck for vehicles.
“The fact that a lot of this traffic will be going through Tipperary town which is already congested with the N24 between Limerick and Waterford.
“There’s already a lot of heavy trucks going through town and this will be bringing a lot more. 60 trucks a day spread out through the day is one every 12 minutes or so,” he added.
Under the original plans, Nephin planned to discharge water from the plant into the Ara River. The council said in their original decision that the applicant’s “emissions limit values would not be acceptable to discharge into the Ara river,” and that “revised lower emission levels are required”.
This has changed in the revised plans, with Mr O’Sullivan saying that this is something for all the people who objected to the previous plans to be proud of.
Nephin Renewable Gas now plan to store water rather than discharging it into the Ara.
“The original proposal to discharge treated process water from the facility to the watercourse has been designed out of the current application. The only discharge to the watercourse will now be clean stormwater,” an agent on behalf of Nephin said.
The Ballynilard Biogas Concern Group also added that despite Nephin’s planning application saying they consulted with a number of households in the area, many people have no record of being contacted by the company at all.
“At least 21 residents whose Eircodes appear in [a table as part of Nephin’s planning application] signed a formal declaration confirming that no such visit, consultation, or engagement ever took place,” the group’s submission said.
“I live directly across from the proposed development. I only became aware of this project when I saw the site planning notice appear on the site across the road,” the submission states.
“When I looked up the planning application and started to read the documentation, I was astonished to find our Eircode listed in a table stating ‘to engage with local neighbours to gauge support for the project and address any concerns prior to submitting a planning application, the residents of the following Eircodes were visited,’” it added.
In his submission under the fresh planning bid, Mr O’Sullivan said that some homes did get sent pamphlets, but he wasn’t one of them, and neither were a few of the closest residents to the site.
Mr O’Sullivan and the Ballynilard Biogas Concern Group maintain that the site chosen by Nephin isn’t suitable for a biogas plant, and that it should be located on a site where there is no homes nearby.
By law, big projects such as this are required to do a site suitability assessment to show that the chosen site is suitable for the intended use.
“Looking at Nephin’s application, two of the sites that they used to compare with the current site were in heavily populated parts of Tipperary town,” he said.
Mr O’Sullivan said that while he’s not opposed to biogas plants in general, he feels the location in Ballynilard is wrong, and that there’s houses too close to it.
In response to a request from the Irish Independent, a representative for Nephin Renewable Gas said that the company does not comment on active planning applications.
“Nephin Renewable Gas can confirm that it is currently seeking planning permission to develop a biomethane plant at Ballyinard.
“As a matter of policy, the company does not comment once a planning application has entered the formal planning process,” the agent said.
Tipperary County Council is due to decide on the planning application by November 5.