Rushbrooke Resident’s Alliance Object To Dockyard’s Two Waste Management Facilities Proposal

Rushbrooke Resident’s Alliance   Rushbrooke Dockyard – Waste Facility objection

Under Planning application number 12/52007 – Cork Dockyard proposes to establish two waste management facilities. These will consist of a metal recycling facility and a recovered waste storage facility:

–       The metal recycling facility will handle scrap metal including baled scrap cars (ELVs)

–       The storage and shipping of recycled waste and RDF (Refuse-Derived Fuel) derived from municipal and commercial waste.

Following recent consultations, residents’ groupings from the area surrounding the dockyard site will be objecting to the planning application.

Rushbrooke has been targeted by successive Development plans as a preferred site for residential developments adding over 3,000 households in the last ten years. It is now a residential area with excellent public transport access in a growing tourist town. This proposal for a waste handling and processing facility with major noise, odour, traffic and environmental issues right in the heart of this area will have a major negative impact on the town of Cobh.

We will be briefing all local politicians, welcome questions and are looking for your support in this objection.

Below is an executive summary of our main objections. A more detailed outline of our objections is available on request.

Noise and Vibration: 

This is a major concern. There hasn’t been heavy industry of this type in the dockyard for 30 years. Many of the old houses surrounding the dockyard will be significantly impacted by vibration as many do not have foundations and are at risk of subsidence from extra traffic.

Cork Dockyard have a very bad track-record over recent years in dealing considerately with neighbours regarding noise levels. The proposed scrap handling facility specifies a separating unit , which is assumed to be a fragmentation machine which allows non-ferrous metals to be separated from the fragmented scrap .Shearing and fragmentation operations are each very noisy in themselves but coupled together in operation along with crane and ground operated machines

Air Quality and Odour:

Per the 2006 legislation “Shredder operators … produce a shredded ferrous product known as fragmentised scrap and a mix of non-ferrous metals, all of which are exported for further processing. Another waste stream known as shredder residue is also produced which contains all of the dust, dirt, rubber, plastic, foam and other materials which were contained in the vehicles and equipment. Shredder residue has historically been landfilled. However, it is now classified as hazardous waste.”

“Potentially hazardous materials present in vehicles include lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, anti-freeze, brake fluid and oil.” The residents have serious concern over the handling of this material in a residential community.

The plan suggests that “typically” there will be 2-3 day storage of metal and municipal/commercial waste on the open quay. It will be difficult if not impossible to prevent the quayside being used as a semi-permanent refuse storage site.

Water / Flood Risk:

12.3.2 of the EIS acknowledges that in the predicted future scenario, the area where the waste is to be stored will be 0.475 metres below the expected flood level. In such a scenario, the bales of waste would be submerged in water and the polluted water collected, possibly over months from that waste will be free to wash into the sea. The proposed mitigation is that the operator will monitor the Tidal patterns will be monitored and the site cleared in advance. This is totally unrealistic.

Public Consultation

There has been no meaningful consultation by the applicants. Most local residents and even Town councillors were not aware of the proposal.

Traffic Movement:

 It is estimated that this development when operating will lead to an additional 92 HGV journeys per day, or an extra HGV passing every 5 minutes from the dockyard out to the Fota road. This will have a devastating effect on the main road into Cobh with impacts on tourism, commuters and pedestrians and cyclists. This is already a dangerous route with cars parked on the verges all along the route. The entrance at the dockyard is totally unsuitable and will result in the road being blocked as trucks cross the road on exit and entrance 92 times a day. There are also severe impacts right out to the Fota road and risks to the strategically important Belvelly Bridge in particular which is the only route into and out of the Island.

Decommissioning:

The site has a history of handling material such as anti-fouling as well as other potentially toxic material and there is no clarity as to whether the existence of these substances has ever been sufficiently investigated or addressed. Given recent issues with the cost to the state of clearing up sites such as the Irish Steel plant, it would seem extremely unwise to add further potential toxic waste issues into a site where there is no clarity as to it’s current state of cleanliness.

Zoning:

The current Cobh Town Plan (2005) zoned the site for light industry/enterprise uses. The site was

also identified as an ‘opportunity site for comprehensive flagship development of a character appropriate to the strategic and scenic nature of the location’.

This clearly does not include processing and storage of waste.

An Bord Pleanala has consistently stated that such types of zoning does not include processing / storage of waste.

It has always been envisaged that the dockyard could a valuable contributor to the local economy as a site for mixed leisure, enterprise and light industry use. This application is totally contrary to that vision.

Economic issues and Damage to the Visual Amenity:

Verolme Dockyard previously employed over 1500 people at the site. It has been used in the past as a mixed-use Industrial Park for a mix of retail, medical, light industry and general office provision. It is a hugely valuable, extensively-serviced industrial water-side site located right beside Cork’s only commuter rail service and therefore extremely suitable for large employers. Use of the dockyard as a waste processing site will sound the death knell for the future use of the site for larger employers in cleaner industries.

Further, the increased traffic and environmental damage related to this proposal will cause major damage to Cobh as a tourist destination and will inevitably impact far more jobs in the tourism sector. Cobh has turned around it’s environment through great strides in tidy towns and improving it’s image. It would be very damaging to reverse this progress.

The resident’s of the local community are determined that the huge progress that has been made in moving Cobh forward to a sustainable future based on Tourism and Leisure employment should not be put at risk for the short-term profit of a few.

Significant more detail is available in the attached document and we are available to discuss the issues raised with you if required. We strongly urge you as public representatives to support our case for the long-term benefit of the town of Cobh.