Locals oppose composting plan

RESIDENTS IN the Slane Valley have voiced objections to a large mushroom-composting plant now the subject of a planning application to Meath County Council.

Lord Henry Mountcharles, the owner of Slane Castle, is among local residents opposing the 28-acre plant planned for Causestown, Stackallan, about six kilometres (3.7 miles) from his home.

A public meeting last night, organised by the Stackallen Boyne Action Group, was called to allow residents voice their objections to the development.

Royal Mushrooms Ltd, based in Butlersbridge, Co Cavan, is proposing that the plant will process chicken manure and straw into mushroom compost. It lodged a planning application with the council two weeks ago.

Nobody from the company was available for comment last night, but in its environmental impact study which accompanied the application, it stated the proposed development will be 500 to 600m (1,640 to 1,970ft) down an access road and the population impact will be relatively low. The proposed development will be kept isolated and separated from houses, and will help relieve the pressure on poultry growers in the Cavan/Monaghan area who have trouble dispensing with chicken waste, the company believes.

Action group spokesman Nick Nickelson said they had "absolutely 100 per cent" support of the residents who could be potentially affected by the development.

An estimated 100 locals packed into a room at Ryan's pub in Gormanlough to protest against the development last week. The group is objecting on a number of grounds. It said the visual impact will be the equivalent of a four-storey building and would be visible from all surrounding roads.

It expressed concerns about the proximity of a stream which flows into the river Boyne, and the possibility of contamination from the plant. It is also worried about the potential of bad odours which, it believes, would affect businesses within a three-kilometre (1.9-mile) radius of the building.

It said the roads around the proposed plant would not be able to handle the volume of traffic which would pass in and out.

Lord Henry Mountcharles said he had "not heard a single resident" in favour of the development and he questioned why a facility processing chicken waste mostly from Cavan and Monaghan was being located in Meath.

In his objection, lodged yesterday, he expressed concern about the potential impact on the river Boyne which flows at the back of his castle. "The scale of this development also poses a serious possibility of contamination to the local water table and an associated threat to health," he said.

He also said it would have a detrimental effect on the tourism industry in the area with so many amenities, including Newgrange and the site of the Battle of the Boyne, in relatively close proximity to the building.

"It presents a visual blot on the landscape in close proximity to an area of prime culture and tourist significance. By presenting a negative impact on the local environment, it also threatens the sustainability of current and future jobs in the tourism sector," he said.

The proposed plant is near Stackallen House, home of Glen Dimplex founder Martin Naughton. He was not available for comment last night.