UNESCO team to inspect proposed incinerator site in Boyne Valley

A delegation from the UN's cultural and scientific body, UNESCO, is expected to carry out an inspection of the proposed site of a municipal waste incinerator in Co Meath next February.

The delegation has accepted an invitation from the Department of the Environment, which now looks after the Dúchas heritage remit. An initial request from the UN body was sent to the Government last July.

The proposed incinerator in Carranstown, Co Meath, has attracted interest from UNESCO due to its planned location beside the Brú na Boinne world heritage site, which includes the prehistoric sites of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. The site is one of only three listed heritage sites on the island of Ireland.

The heritage and environment group, The Battle for the Boyne, said the Government had been engaged in "sustained efforts to get this issue off the agenda of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee".

Mr Brian Hanratty, director of the group, said the construction of a municipal incinerator in the Boyne Valley "would be an appalling folly in such a heritage rich area".

In a recommendation agreed at its 27th annual meeting in Paris on July 5th, UNESCO's world heritage committee said it "regretted" the Government had not provided them with information on the proposal, despite the information having been requested in June 2002.

It requested that the Government allow an inspection to be carried out by UNESCO and ICOMOS, the International Council on Monuments and Sites. The visit is intended to "review the situation and the impact of the project on the values and integrity of the site", the UNESCO resolution said.

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said an invitation to UNESCO had been issued at the end of November and had been accepted. He said a specific date had not been set but a visit was likely to take place in February.

He explained the delay in issuing the invitation by saying the initial UNESCO request had been "misdirected" to the Department of Education. "Once it was received here in November it was dealt with immediately."

He said the Department would also "endeavour" to provide any information surrounding planning issues with the incinerator site but that it was not directly responsible for planning.

Indaver Ireland was granted permission for the Carranstown incinerator by An Bord Pleanála last March and applied to the Environmental Protection Agency for a licence. However, the planning process for the €85 million plant is now under judicial review following objections from anti-incinerator groups.