An Bord Pleanála, the Irish planning authority, has chosen not to contest a High Court case that challenges its approval for a £40 million meat factory in Co Offaly. Following the project’s approval, the authority became aware of the “moderate” status given to the nearby Rapemills River. The planning board has agreed to re-evaluate the planning application for Banagher Chilling Limited’s meat project, to take into account the state of the river.
On Monday, the legal dispute over the approval, initiated by two locals from Banagher, was postponed for three weeks by Justice Emily Farrell, to allow the project’s developers to figure out how to respond to the planning board’s standpoint.
The proposed factory would be capable of slaughtering up to 36,000 animals annually, primarily for export, with a focus on the Chinese market. The developers of this plan claim that it would create approximately 110 jobs.
Banagher locals, Desmond Kampff and Gwen Wordingham, who have been represented by James Devlin SC and John Kenny, and advised by the law firm FP Logue, initiated the lawsuit due to serious worries about the effect of the proposed plant’s operation on the environment. They are particularly concerned with the facility’s plan to discharge its domestic and waste water into the nearby Feeghroe stream, which they claim lacks the capacity for this.
Despite these concerns, the inspector from An Bord Pleanála concluded that the anticipated development would not significantly harm the environment in terms of climate. The contentious application had managed to secure permission from Offaly County Council two years prior and was carried forth to the planning board following an appeal by Wordingham and Kampff. The duo argue that the planning board failed to properly ascertain that the proposed project wouldn’t lead to water body degradation and possibly interfere with achieving good water status or allow situations where no assessment was feasible.