Residents win appeal on recycling plant

The appeal by local residents to An Bord Pleanala over the granting of planning permission for a metal recycling and cars ELV plant at Knockbounce Business Park has been won, writes Brian Byrne.

The permission had been granted by Kildare County Council last summer to the owners of Dolly Skip Hire, and was immediately appealed by the residents of the nearby estates, in particular Cnoc na Greine and Avondale. The other businesses in the Business Park also appealed the decision.

A public meeting at the time expressed shock and astonishment that any planning authority would give permission for an industry that not only was against the zoning for the business park, but would so seriously impact the amenity of local people.

The reasons given by An Bord Pleanala in refusing the permission included the matter that the proposed development would 'conflict with the planning authority's objective for land use zoning H1, light industry and warehousing'.

The Bord also agreed with the consideration that the proximity of the facility to existing residential property 'would seriously injure the amenities of residential property in the vicinity, by reason of noise and general disturbance'.

The Bord wasn't satisfied with the information on file regarding the potential traffic impact of the proposed development, particularly with the impact in the village of Kilcullen itself. It was also not satisfied with the information provided in relation to drainage, including management of pollutant emissions to surface water from the end-of-life vehicle recovery building.