Fingal identifies nine sites for major regional waste water treatment plant

Monday, October 10, 2011

Fingal County Council has identified nine potential land parcels in the northern part of the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), within which a proposed regional wastewater treatment plant could potentially be located, along with a marine outfall and an orbital drainage system.


The new infrastructure is needed to provide sustainable and reliable drainage and wastewater treatment for the GDA to meet current and future economic, industrial and residential demands, to protect the environment and to meet the EU Water Framework Directive standards. Fingal County Council will spend the next six weeks between 10th October and 18th November consulting with the public and will hold Open Days with the Project Team at County Hall, Swords. 

The report was welcomed by the Chairman of the Council’s Environment Committee, Councillor Kieran Dennison.


"This facility is very badly needed for Fingal and for the greater Dublin area. The regions waste infrastructure is already streatched. At current growth rates the Poolbeg treatment plant will reach full capacity in ten years time. The aim is to have this plant built and connected to the drainage system by then. We are fortunate that funding is still available for the project. I really hope we do not have the same delays that beset so many of our infrastructural projects over the years such as the M50 and the Poolbeg incinerator.

"The provision of the regional wastewater treatment plant is essential to allow for economic growth and inward investment in the area. This is about keeping jobs in the Dublin area and if it is delayed the IDA may have to divert major inward investment projects elsewhere.

Following assessment of the public submissions, a further narrowing of the options will take place next spring into early summer. There will then be another round of public consultation. The preferred site is due for selection by the end of next year.
A planning application is expected to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála in 2013. Construction is due to begin in 2017 and the plant should be operational by 2020.



The ASA Phase One Preliminary Screening Outcomes Report and accompanying maps are published on www.greaterdublindrainage.ie 

The Report with the maps is also available on display at County libraries in Balbriggan, Baldoyle, Blanchardstown, Garristown, Howth, Malahide, Rush, Skerries, and Swords, the four mobile libraries and the two planning counters: Fingal County Hall, Swords and Blanchardstown Civic Offices. CDs of the Report can be purchased for €5 and hard copies for €30 from the two planning counters. 

The nine land parcels are: 
  • Annsbrook, approximately 2.5km north east of Ballyboghil (Ballyboughal) (62 hectares). 
  • Baldurgan, approximately 1.6km south east of Ballyboghil (57 ha). 
  • Cloghran, approximately 2.2km east of Dublin Airport and 3.3km south of Swords (32 ha). 
  • Clonshagh (Clonshaugh), approximately 2.5km east of Dublin Airport and 1.3km north of Belcamp and Darndale (40 ha). 
  • Cookstown, approximately 2.5km south east of Ballyboghil (80 ha). 
  • Newtowncorduff, approximately 2.2km west of Lusk (43 ha). 
  • Rathartan, approximately 2 km west of Rush and 3km to the east of Lusk (41 ha). 
  • Saucerstown, approximately 3.3km north west of Swords (36 ha). 
  • Tyrrelstown Little, approximately 2.8km north east of Lusk and 3.6km north west of Rush (114 ha). 
Each of the nine potential land parcels is bigger than the approximately 20 hectares that will be required for the proposed new regional wastewater treatment plant, which will cater for wastewater for an estimated 700,000 population equivalent, with the majority of the load coming from the Fingal County Council area. 

“The Report published today shows how we mapped existing terrestrial and coastal environmental constraints and developed prudent buffer zones from sensitive receptors to identify areas in which a wastewater treatment works can be located”, says Peter O’Reilly, Project Engineer, Fingal Co Council. “We will now assess these nine land parcels as potential locations in which to site the regional wastewater treatment plant. We will also assess the routes for the orbital drainage system and the marine outfall pipe locations. These potential locations and routes will be assessed against a range of criteria that include human issues, environmental impacts, technical and cost considerations as the next step in identifying the optimum sites for this vital new infrastructure.”

“We invite local people and all interested stakeholders to attend at any of four Open Days to be held by the Project Team at Fingal County Hall, Swords during October and November. People can also contact the Project Team by phone and email or in writing. Feedback from the Open Days and from all other stakeholder contacts will inform decisions on the eventual preferred site, which may or may not be one of these nine land parcels”, he said. “We are moving forward with these nine potential land parcels based on our current information. Site specific information, more in-depth desk-top research and site surveys, as well as feedback from the public are needed now to rule out any unsuitable land parcel and to assist in identifying the best location,” he said. 

The dates and times for the Open Days in Fingal County Council’s Swords headquarters are: · Saturday 22nd October from 11am to 4pm, · Wednesday 26th October from 2pm to 8pm, · Thursday 3rd November from 2pm to 8pm and · Saturday 5th November from 11am to 4pm. 

Comments and queries can be sent to info@greaterdublindrainage.ie, the Project Team can be contacted at 1890 44 55 67 or people can write to Greater Dublin Drainage Project Manager, C/O RPS Group, West Pier Business Campus, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

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