One of the most famous Irish stud farms, which is owned by the al-Maktoum brothers and employs 100 people, is to be relocated abroad if a hazardous waste incinerator is allowed proceed in north Kildare, the hearing was told.
Mr Fintan Hurley, for the North Kildare-South Meath Alliance Against Incineration, said the future of Derrinstown Stud near Kilcock hinged on the incinerator decision.
Such a loss together with the likely devaluation of property had not been properly evaluated in the environmental impact statement submitted by the developer, Thermal Waste Management, as it was statutorily obliged to do, he claimed.
When this was put to Mr Dermot Harte, a civil engineer and a project manager with TWM, he said the impact of the thermal treatment plant on stud farms and adjoining properties had been taken into account.
They had also relied on the Bord Pleanala view reached in relation to an incinerator proposed for Clarecastle, Co Clare, which found there was no likely impact on property or tourism from such a development. With its proposal, the company wanted to be "good neighbours".
Mr Hurley said the case involved "issues of perception", and there would be severe economic consequences flowing from a decision to grant such a facility permission. A local auctioneer would give evidence that from the moment the TWM application went in to the day Kildare County Council refused planning permission last year, not one five-bedroom house in a new housing estate in Kilcock had been sold. In the same period, nine deposits had to be refunded.
Mr Harte accepted public confidence in such facilities was not high and its proposal had not yet gained community acceptance. But when modern plants were brought into operation they could build up public confidence and show they operated responsibly.
A traffic consultant, Mr Frank Harewood, disagreed with projections in a report submitted by the alliance which suggested there would be on average a 16-minute evening peak-hour delay for traffic at a key junction between the N4 national primary route and the R148 from Kilcock, which would be close to the plant. The morning peak-hour delay would be eight minutes, it was estimated.
Mr Harewood said the TWM figures were based on survey figures compiled by the council. If anything, it had overestimated the volume. The increase from the plant would be considerably less than one year's normal growth on the nearby N4/M4 motorway.
