Councillors cry `cheat' on plan for Ballinasloe dump

The seagulls are already "ripping" up the local golf course and now they will grow fatter on the county's carrion

The seagulls are already "ripping" up the local golf course and now they will grow fatter on the county's carrion. "Cheated" is one prevalent emotion among some public representatives in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, this week following confirmation that the town is to become the county's temporary dumpsite.

"I just cannot believe it," Ms Sheila Ganly, of Ballinasloe Urban District Council (UDC), told The Irish Times late last week.

Some 10 days before the closing date for submissions on a waste management strategy for Galway city and county, councillors were effectively informed that an interim decision had already been made. Up to £5 million was to be spent on upgrading Ballinasloe's landfill at Poolboy.

The "short-term" measure had been adopted to meet the waste "crisis" facing the county, the councillors were told, when they were assured that a permanent landfill would be developed by 2005 in a more central location.

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Other interim measures would include development of extensive recycling facilities to dispose of 20 per cent of all waste by the end of next year, and the appointment of environmental education officers.

The announcement, which was made at a joint meeting of elected representatives from Galway Corporation, county council and Ballinasloe UDC a week ago, was met with a stunned silence, according to Ms Ganly.

"Poolboy is in a dreadful condition and it is going to cost at least £1 million to upgrade it to existing standards alone. This decision was made even before EPA licensing approval for use of it. You know, it is only a mile from Portiuncula hospital and right next to an 18-hole golf course which we had developed, partly on reclaimed bog. I don't think there's a superdump anywhere in this country that is only a mile from a hospital."

Her fears have been echoed by other councillors, who believe that the decision is more than "temporary".

Not so, say the consultants who were commissioned by Galway Corporation and county council to draw up a management strategy which would handle the county's non-hazardous material for the next 20 to 25 years.

They were under pressure to select a temporary site to cope with a severe capacity problem, given that the existing landfill at Carrowbrowne, on the Headford road, was due to close next year, and the landfill at Tuam was almost full.

The consultants, M C O'Sullivan Consulting Engineers, estimate that £5 million will be needed to upgrade Poolboy, including improve security, new fencing and a new weightbridge.

A waste transfer station will also have to be provided on Galway's perimeter within the next year and the collection of commercial waste is to be increased from the current 2,500 tonnes to 20,000 tonnes.

However, their strategy sets much store by increasing the recycling target to 20 per cent of all municipal waste within the next 18 months. Some 20 additional "bring" centres are to be sited in Galway city and Ballinasloe, and also on the islands, in co-operation with Rehab, to collect glass, cans, textiles, plastics and other recyclables.

Six major waste recycling centres are to be set up in industrial areas of the city and in Ballinasloe, Tuam, Athenry and Clifden to cope with bulky household items and commercial waste not picked up by weekly collections.

And new environmental education officers will work with communities, schools and businesses on waste minimisation and recycling initiatives.

Inevitably, refuse charges, which are quoted as the second lowest in the country, will rise.

"Regardless of the amount of recycling, landfill will always be needed for residual wastes," Mr Declan Nelson, chairman of the county's waste management steering committee, says. Galway was the State's fastest growing city and some 180,000 tonnes of non-agricultural waste was generated in both city and county annually.

Mr P.J. Rudden, of M.C. O'Sullivan, told councillors that the choice of "superdump" site was expected to be announced in September, and would take at least six years to construct.

"Don't tell me that Poolboy is only a temporary decision," says Ms Ganly. "Do they really expect us to believe that they are going to spend £5 million and then walk away from it in 2005?"

Lorna Siggins

Lorna Siggins

Lorna Siggins is the former western and marine correspondent of The Irish Times