Almost 2,000 sewage plant submissions received

GREATER Dublin Drainage received almost 2,000 submissions for the third phase of the sewage plant consultation process.

Three sites – two in Lusk and one in Clonshaugh – are under consideration for the plant, which has sparked fury among residents in both areas and led to a number of protests.

Campaign groups, who are adamant that the plant is not going to be located in their area, will step up these protests in the coming months.

Last year the Greater Dublin Drainage project team received approximately 10,000 submissions as a result of another non-statutory public consultation process.

That process was held on the nine land parcels identified in the earlier stage of the project. Now this has been whittled down to three.

A spokeswoman for Greater Dublin Drainage said that although the third phase has passed, people can still make submissions which will be considered. However, there is no guarantee that they will be included in the consultation report.

She pointed out that if the project is approved by An Bord Pleanala, another consultation report will be drafted. It was too early to say where the bulk of the submissions had come from.

“We are still going through the submissions received,

? she told Northside People.

“It will be a few weeks yet before we will have the final figure as submissions are still arriving into the office and some of them are very detailed and will take time to consider.

“The third period of non-statutory consultation ended on July 6 and all submissions received by that date will be included in the report to be written about this consultation, and it will be published when it is written.

“People are still welcome to send in submissions and comments while studies continue on the three emerging preferred sites. All submissions will be considered by the Project Team.

?

The spokeswoman added:

“Following further studies and when we have a decision on the final preferred site, an Environmental Impact Statement will be carried out on that site before a planning application is made to the independent An Bord Pleanála.

“The Bord will then carry out its own statutory public consultation on the project and everyone will have another opportunity to have their say then.

?

Greater Dublin Drainage said the new plant will need to be constructed and up and running by 2020 approximately.

Meanwhile, Lorcan O’Toole, a spokesperson for Lusk Waste Watch, said residents are planning to step up their campaign this summer.

“We’ve raised and spent quite a lot of money on signage, but we plan on increasing the campaign to raise more money,

? he told Northside People.

Mr O’Toole said a road race fundraiser will be organised in the coming weeks and has urged locals to attend.