Shared Costs Awarded in Cork Waste-to-Energy Case

Mr Justice Kearns has awarded shared costs to An Bord Pleanala and CHASE in the Judicial Review of the Cork Waste-to-Energy planning application. The case spanned 16 months and the judge has stated that these parties must pay their own cost with the exception of the last five weeks of the case.

 

An outcome of the case was the publication of the Evaluation of the Cork Waste Management Plan which stated that the existing waste strategy ‘is no longer relevant’. This official document was only revealed as part of the court case under Access to Information on the Environment Regulation and is an evaluation by Cork County Council of its existing waste management plan.

 

‘We were always convinced that the waste plan did not meet the waste management needs of the region. The evaluation now demonstrates this to be the case. The conclusions of the evaluation are now clear and if the court case helped us get there then that’s a fair outcome’, said John Ahern, Managing Director Indaver Ireland.

 

The Cork Waste-to-Energy facility will alleviate Corks current waste predicament. The absence of adequate waste treatment facilities has led to a situation where thousands of tonnes of municipal waste are now being exported from Cork to mainland Europe annually. It is likely that current alternative treatment options will diminish further in 2013 making the region even more dependent on this export option.

 

In order to progress the Cork Waste-to-Energy facility the company decided not to pursue the Judicial Review proceedings it brought against An Bord Pleanála as a direct result of the publication of the Evaluation Report. The existing waste plan was one of the major reasons An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission and its failing opens the way for the company to reapply for planning in due course. Other reasons cited  by An Bord Pleanala have been solved by the company

 

ENDS

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