A planning application for a healthcare waste-transfer station in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, was refused yesterday.
The application, not due to be considered until the end of the month, was refused on the grounds that the facility would be too close to residential areas, damage local amenities and affect property values.
While the healthcare waste management company, Sterile Technologies Ireland Ltd, has declined to comment until it has been officially informed of the decision, a source has stated that the company will almost certainly appeal to An Bord Pleanala.
"It's a joyful day," said Cllr Sylvia Sheehan-Cooney yesterday. "To have residents of the town working together for a common cause, and actually succeeding against the big guns, is brilliant."
The action group campaigning against the proposed facility, the Concerned Residents of Carrick-on-Suir, has gained enormous support in the town.
Over 3,000 letters of objection to the application were delivered to the town hall two weeks ago, and 2,000 people marched in protest last Saturday.
Support for the action group has also come from the town council and local deputies, Mrs Theresa Ahearn, Mr Michael Ferris and the Minister of State, Mr Noel Davern.
With the company likely to appeal to An Bord Pleanala, the residents' group has hired a solicitor to work on its behalf.
"We have vowed to fight with all the means available to us . . . through all appeal processes and to the highest courts in the land," the secretary of the residents' group, Ms Patricia O'Shea, said.