Appeal to Howlin on Wicklow dump plan

A CO Wicklow group has issued a "last minute" appeal to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, not to approve plans for a 300 acre dump south of Rathnew.

The Ballynagran Coolbeg Action Group, which has been picketing meetings of Wicklow County Council for three years, says it has learnt that a final decision on the dump is imminent. The group wants the Minister not to make a decision before the Licensing of dumps is handed over, to the Environmental Protection Agency next month.

The group recently lost a Supreme Court case taken to prevent the county manager, Mr Blaise Tracey, ignoring a direction of the council to drop the plan.

In letters to the Minister the group describes the Environmental Impact Statement by consultants for Wicklow County Council as "a sham" and claims the dump is to be sited on an important ground water base.

According to a group member, Ms Judy Osborne, any contamination of this aquifer would have "devastating effects" on the environment of nearby Brittas Bay and on tourism in a wide area.

"We will certainly make this the biggest political issue in Wicklow at the next general election, but we understand that the files are now on the Minister's desk and a decision is imminent. We feel that the sensible thing for the Minister to, do, politically as well as environmentally, would be to defer his decision until it becomes a matter for the EPA," Ms Osborne said.