November meeting 2014

Chairperson

• Michael Hehir, Local Resident

Committee members

• Alan Foudy, Cloonanaha NS
• John Longe, Local Resident
• Patrick O'Halloran, Local Resident
• Perry Long, Local Resident
• Sheila McTigue, Mike McTigue Community Centre
• Tom Long, Local Resident

Council officials

• Paul Moroney
• Frances McNamara

Absent

• Dominic Keating, Inagh Development Ltd

Main meeting

Before the Meeting commenced the Chairperson offered the sympathies of the Committee to the family of the late Martin Queally a former member of the Committee.

Minutes of meeting held on the 5th March 2014.

• Proposed by Patrick O'Halloran
• Seconded by Alan Foudy

Matters arising from minutes

Perry Long asked for an update on the Southern Region Waste Management Plan.

Paul Moroney advised that a notice of intention to commence preparation of the waste plan had been published. He said that he anticipated that the draft plan would be available for public consultation but that he was not aware of the timeframe. The Southern Region includes all Munster Counties as well as Wexford, Kilkenny and Carlow. The new plan will cover a larger area of population and will include all aspects of waste management.

Perry Long said that she hoped that no aspect of the plan would be in operation in Clare as the location of the County is in the periphery of the Region. Paul Moroney said that it was not possible to comment on this at this stage as the plan had yet to be drafted.

Perry Long asked if the Landfill in Kerry had closed. Paul Moroney replied that it was still open as was the landfill in Gortadroma, Limerick, however they were both scheduled to close this year. He said that the number of licensed landfills in Ireland had decreased significantly and that some waste was now leaving the Country for disposal.

Perry Long queried the situation regarding trees on site. Paul Moroney said that significant damage had occurred to trees at the Facility and that a number of them had fallen as a result of recent storms. He clarified that a Felling Licence was not required for the trees that were removed. He advised that Clare County Council is progressing with a number of issues in relation to forestry management at the facility.

Odour management

Perry Long said the odour was not bad at present and that it had greatly improved from previous occasions.

Correspondence

Sheila Mc Tigue queried the figures on the monthly leachate data sheet and stated that there maybe an error with the calculations on this sheet. This is to be confirmed at the next meeting. A discussion took place regarding the cost of leachate removal at the facility; Paul Moroney advised that the cost of removing and treating the leachate was very expensive.

Perry Long queried the correspondence relating to the exceedence of trigger levels. Paul Moroney stated that this issue was due to rainfall volume and that the issue is now addressed. 

Perry Long queried the correspondence relating to the storage of bring banks at the facility. Paul Moroney stated that these are additional bring banks which are used at beaches during the summer months and are stored at the Central Waste Management Facility at other times.

Any other business

Perry Long asked how many applications had been received for the Community Fund, Small Grant Scheme. It was confirmed that approximately 40 applications were received in relation to this scheme and that in total that there were 53 eligible households.

Date for next meeting

Paul Moroney said that he was proposing that the Community Liaison Monitoring Committee meetings would take place two times per year in the months of March and October. Those present were agreeable to this request.

The meeting concluded at 7:40 p.m.