Concern about cement firm's £40m plan for Kinnegad site

A group of local people on the Westmeath-Meath border has lodged objections against a proposal by Lagan Cement Ltd to manufacture…

A group of local people on the Westmeath-Meath border has lodged objections against a proposal by Lagan Cement Ltd to manufacture white cement on a site near Kinnegad.

The Lagan group has plans to spend £40 million on the project, which is expected to employ upwards of 200 people when the plant is in operation.

However, residents of the Kinnegad-Ballinabrackey area have come together to express concern about the impact of the development on the local environment.

In particular, the locals are concerned about what is likely to happen to their water supplies, the quality of the local river water and the flora and fauna in the vicinity.

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They are also concerned that the plant will create noise pollution and that the cultural heritage of their area, which has been agricultural, could be lost.

The Lagan group has rejected the allegations made by the residents. In a statement before Christmas, it said that over the last three months more than 500 people had visited its information centre at the site and that the vast majority had expressed support.

"They have been impressed by the very high standards the company is committed to observing and also by the fact that the project will provide 300 jobs during the two-year construction phase and 200 jobs thereafter," said the company.

The Kinnegad-Ballinbrackey Action Committee, however, which is chaired by Mr Robert Payne, said during the week that it had grave concerns over the proposed development.

The secretary of the action group, Ms Marie Goonery, believes the development will have a major impact on the whole area and transform it from a rural community to an industrial one.

"Our main concern, however, is about the water quality in the area once the company begins its mining operations. They have told us they will drill wells for us, but that will not protect us," she said.

Her home would be dwarfed by the development, which would involve building three large silos, chimneys and towers which would change the whole landscape, she added.

"The company intends to dig 230 feet into the ground in order to get a reasonable span of raw material, and we know of no company doing the same as this in Ireland. We have visited the sites of other factories manufacturing cement in this country and we have not been very impressed with what we found," she said.

"There is clearly a severe dust problem when manufacturing begins, and this will also reduce the quality of the environment in our area even though the company claims it will not.

"None of us can understand how cement can be produced without dust being generated and spread around the local environment."

The group was appealing to the public for funds to help it to prepare a comprehensive objection to Westmeath and Meath County Councils, with the aid of environmental experts.

Lagan, however, said the claims were "totally inaccurate and exaggerated". They had spent more than a year preparing the plans for the project with a wide range of independent experts to ensure it was developed with the highest environmental standards.

There had also been extensive consultation with local residents and their public representatives, it added, and this open-door policy would be maintained through the planning and subsequent construction phase.

It said the company had made various consultants available to local people, and it was disappointing that the Ballinabrackey Residents' Action Group had not taken the opportunity to have its concerns discussed with those experts but chose instead to issue a "very inaccurate" statement to the media.

The company added that on the water issue Lagan had carried out a major hydrological study in the project catchment area and was satisfied that over the expected 40-year life span of the project, 20 of the wells in the locality would be adversely affected.

It promised that in such cases the company would supply new wells and do this in advance of the plant going into production.

Alternatively, it would contribute to a local group water scheme, should local residents decide they wanted one.