ballyshannon Summer meeting

People of Ballyshannon were urged last night not to allow the Kilsaran Racefield project to go beyond a green-field site, or it will open the way for other quarries in the area, writes Brian Byrne.

At a public meeting last evening, they also heard that a legal team has been appointed and the Ballyshannon Action Group are pursuing a Judicial Review of the planning permission granted on appeal by An Bord Pleanala for the quarry at Racefield, overturning the 'very strong' refusal of permission by Kildare County Council.

Those present were reminded that there's a precedent in the area for a 'David' beating 'Goliath' in a similar matter. "The community of Usk took on the Greenstar group in relation to the use of a quarry there," Cllr Ivan Keatley recalled. "They took it to the High Court, and to the European Court, and they won."

He was one of several public representatives at the meeting, held in the playing field of Ballyshannon NS. Others included Minister of State Martin Heydon, who chaired the meeting, deputies Patricia Ryan and Cathal Berry, and councillors from the Kildare-Newbridge and Athy MDs. There were apologies from several representatives who were unable to attend, including Kildare South-based Senator Mark Wall.

During the meeting, called by the Ballyshannon Action group to bring local people up to date on the situation, a number of issues were noted, including the difficulties of enforcing planning conditions such as the numbers of truck movements.

But the community was urged to 'stick together' on the matter.

Opening the meeting, Jim Burke of the Ballyshannon Action Group rehearsed what had happened with the appeal, noting specifically that An Bord Pleanala had gone against the advice of its own inspector. He said the community 'was ready to fight'. "We have a legal team in place, and a large cheque-book is not going to stop us," he said. "We will fight to the end."

He made a special reference to the late Mick Sayers, saying that they were continuing the fight for him and for his wife Mags and their family. "I miss him, and I could do with someone like him now."

Martin Heydon agreed, saying that Mick Sayers was 'full of ideas, energy and fight."

Mick Sayers was also referenced by the next speaker, Kieran Cummins from Enfield, who told the meeting that it was Mick who had first contacted him when the Racefield issue had arisen. Describing his own locality as 'quarry central', Mr Cummins said quarrying companies have 'piggybacked' on section 42 of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2016 to get automatic extensions to their planning permission durations.

He had taken a case against Ireland to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, alleging non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention. This was on the grounds that section 42 excludes public participation and screening of significant effects on the environment irrespective of the nature of the project for which an extension duration is requested.
"Two years after the UN told Ireland to amend the law, this is still there," he told the meeting, and went on to describe how 'topping up' of quarry planning permissions due to 'established use' is now 'endemic' across the country.

He urged the Ballyshannon Community to fight to stop Racefield going beyond a green-field status. "If it goes ahead as a quarry, you can be sure that its initial life will be extended, for another 20 years probably." He added that land-banking by quarrying companies is a 'huge problem', especially in Meath and Kildare. "It's phenomenal, and when one quarry gets a go-ahead, the others fall in place like dominoes."

In relation to enforcement of planning conditions, he said the existing self-policing compliance system is 'daft'. "But it is what we have to rely on." He described the 'intensification' that happens when quarrying gets established in an area, picking out truck traffic as an example. "Nobody monitors truck movements. It is soul-destroying to do as a community. You have to use CCTV and have it analysed, and then you have nowhere to go ... there's usually only one enforcement officer in a Council dealing with quarries."

Mr Cummins told those present that pressure needs to be put on 'political folk' to get changes made. "They know it's an issue, and it is an awful lot worse than is known."

Cllr Ivan Keatley said that he and his fellow councillors were as shocked as had been the community when they saw the An Bord Pleanala decision. "We all got together to see what we could do on your behalf," he said, noting that they had put a motion to Council asking why it fell on the community to take legal action against the decision. "The Council is legally prohibited from taking An Bord Pleanala to court, which does leave it to the community" he added, and went on to recall the successful campaign by Usk against Greenstar.

"There is a point in raising it at Council," he noted. "When we did so, there was not one dissenting voice among the 40 councillors. Sticking together is what this is all about, and your committee can't do it without your support."

Cllr Aoife Breslin said a motion had been tabled to the Athy MD in support of the campaign and they would continue to highlight it. Deputy Patricia Ryan said she had contacted An Taisce for advice, and commented that this was a common all-party issue. Deputy Cathal Berry said that there was full support from his end of the constituency and they had contributed to the funds being raised by the campaign. Minister Martin Heydon said they were all very aware of the number of quarries involved and that this is 'an important fight for the whole area'. "All the areas concerned are interconnected," he added.

Eoin Houlihan of Kilcullen Community Action said that all the TDs should be pushing to have the section 42 amended, and that TDs and elected officials should 'stand up' to companies like Kilsaran 'who have a lot of money'.

On the matter of financing the next stage of the campaign, the meeting heard that there are moves to get support from the equine industry in the locality.

While the pandemic had paused what had been a successful fundraising effort, according to the campaign's Jim Crawford there are new plans which will include a 'steel collection skip' initiative, a golf day, and a door to door collection which will also be an opportunity to answer any questions in the community.

"We know everybody has already dug deep, but we have a real fight on our hands," he said.