Sir, – The High Court judicial review of the proposed wastewater treatment plant at Kilkee, Co Clare raises an important question about how big infrastructure projects are planned and assessed.
Few would dispute that Kilkee urgently requires a modern wastewater treatment system to end sewage discharges and support the town’s future development. The issue is not whether the plant should be built, but where it should be located.
An Coimisiún Pleanála approved a site on the Kilkee Cliff Walk despite its own planning inspector recommending refusal. Local campaigners have also pointed to an alternative inland quarry site which they argue could accommodate the facility with significantly less impact on one of Clare’s most important tourism and natural amenities.
Whatever the outcome of the court proceedings, the case highlights the need for public bodies to demonstrate clearly why alternative sites have been rejected when significant environmental and tourism considerations are involved.
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Good infrastructure and environmental stewardship should not be competing objectives. Communities are entitled to expect both. – Yours, etc,
ALEX KENNEDY
Dublin 8.
