Residents near Cork city are to seek an oral hearing with An Bord Pleanála over the planned extension of a limestone quarry which, they claim, will seriously affect the health and safety of their growing community.
Ballygarvan Community Association is objecting to John A. Wood Ltd's plan to extend its 60-acre quarry at Killanully, three miles south of Cork city.
The proposed 50-acre extension would bring the quarry to within 400 yards of Ballygarvan village, which has recently quadrupled in size with the building of 150 new houses.
BCA chairman Dr Max Ryan said locals were surprised when Cork County Council granted conditional planning permission in May for the site, which is zoned for agriculture. The group has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála.
Dr Ryan said the expansion would bring the quarry to within 100 yards of 10 houses and Ballygarvan GAA field, and within 400 yards of the heart of the village.
"In our view it would be bad planning - and morally wrong - to designate a village for extensive new residential housing and then allow a quarry to extend right up to the village boundary," he said.
"A new school was sanctioned for Ballygarvan in 1998 and the Department of Education and Science are currently acquiring a site. If permission to extend the quarry is granted, then it will possibly jeopardise the planning application for the new school and seriously affect the health and wellbeing of the school staff and children."
Residents are concerned about pollution, in particular the amount of dust and noise generated, and the effect on local streams and water courses in the valley, which is traversed by the Owenabue River.
Dr Ryan said the monitoring of dust at the existing quarry focused solely on depositable dust, not the smaller, invisible respirable dust.
He said he was concerned about the system used by the company to monitor dust particles.
He said that a sample survey by the county council carried out between Sepember 22nd and October 28th, 2003 had found six daily breaches of EU directives on dust levels.
Dr Ryan said he also had concerns in relation to a water-spraying system which is meant to dampen down dust.
Mr Ted McCarthy, also of the association, said residents were concerned about blasting operations and the risk of people being injured, or damage to property by flyrock.
He cited an incident in 1991 when an 8lb rock was catapulted 802 feet to within 20 paces of a house.
A Cork County Council spokesman said it wasn't council policy to comment on cases under appeal with An Bord Pleanála.
A spokesperson for John A. Wood's head office in Cork said the company had no comment.
