Bord refuses planning retention to Offaly sawmill

A Co Offaly sawmill which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found had polluted local water sources with lethal chromium V1, has had its application for retention planning permission rejected by An Bord Pleanála.

T & J Standish Sawmills, based in the Aghancon Valley near the Offaly/North Tipperary border, about six miles from Roscrea, Co Tipperary, has had a controversial history and was successfully prosecuted by the EPA in 2001 for not preventing ground and surface water pollution.

The company, which has claimed to employ 50 people, has expanded rapidly in recent years, building new premises.

But in its decision to refuse retention permission announced yesterday, An Bord Pleanála noted that "no part of the existing development on the application site is authorised by way of planning permission".

The board said upholding Offaly County Council's decision in principle to grant planning permission, taken last December, "would facilitate unauthorised development on the site".

Mr Tom Standish has previously claimed that Offaly County Council was one of his biggest customers.

The council subsequently rejected the claim, saying the amounts of material it bought from the Standish quarrying and sawmill businesses was small.

Following yesterday's announcement of An Bord Pleanála's decision, a spokesman for the Aghancon Concerned Residents' Association, which took part in the appeal, said a case would be taken to the High Court in an attempt to close the unauthorised buildings' He said action would also be taken by the group for "substantial damages" to the amenities and property values in the area as a result of the commercial activity.

In its decision, the board also said that because of its scale and hours of operation, the development would "by reason of noise and general disturbance, in particular at night time, seriously injure the amenities of property in the vicinity".

It also ruled that the proximity of the development to Leap Castle, a protected structure, "would seriously detract from the setting of the protected structure".

As Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Mr Tom Parlon was recently allocated responsibility for protected structures. He had no comment to make on yesterday's Bord decision.

However, Mr Parlon did previously express concern when tests carried out by consultants for the sawmills indicated the presence of chromium in wells, causing the county council to place a warning against drinking the water.

One of the wells served a farm occupied by Mr Parlon's mother.

According to EPA documents seen by The Irish Times, previous breaches of the company's integrated pollution control licence include the release of a number of chemicals - including quantities of chromium VI and copper in excess of permitted limits - to surrounding surface water, the nearby Fuarawn river, and the contamination of a number of local wells.