Plan for Kildare slurry bag is halted

Plans to install a temporary slurry tank in Kildangan have failed due to public reaction and the developer who took on board their views.

Billy Costello of Green Generation in Nurney had hoped to install an enclosed bladder tank behind raised earthen bunds at his site where the old Cush Inn used to be.

There he hoped to store up to 2.5m gallons of excess slurry for which he didn’t have the capacity to do so at his bio-gas facility in Nurney, until the spreading season begins again.

“I spoke to the neighbours and assured them there’d be no smell at all,” said Billy.

“When people saw the raised bunds the just thought it was going to be an open slurry lake with flies and smells, but it was nothing like that,” he said.

“I bought the pub and knocked the pub … I had the field, the car park and the site, and thought it would be a good site, but I shouldn’t gone ahead without planning permission,” he admitted.

“We took into account everything they (the community) said,” he admitted.

Mr Costello was referring to a meeting held last Tuesday night (19 November) in the Cross Keys Pub in Kildangan that was attended by an estimated 150 people, two TDs (Patricia Ryan and Cathal Berry), two senators (Mark Wall and Fiona O’Loughlin) , and three councillors (Mark Duffy, Chris Pender and Aoife Breslin).

“It’s been confirmed to me by Kildare County Council that this was unauthorized,” said Senator Mark Wall.

“He was hoping to build a large unit at the old Cush Inn site with no planning permission, and the locals were not happy with him,” he added.

“What we’ve heard is that they’ll return the site to its original condition, and not seek planning permission,” said a local activist. 

This was confirmed to this newspaper by Mr Costello who said the phone call he was on shortly before was with a landscaper. 

“We will be staying on top of this, but it seems he has backed down,” said the local.

“He said it was going to be a temporary slurry pit, said it would have a membrane, and it was to be based where he injects the bio-gas into the national supply,” she explained.

“But this would be built on a flood plain, and proposed landscaping couldn’t be allowed, according to another woman at the meeting who knows better, because the root system could damage this membrane,” she said.

“There was such an amount of expertise in the room last night.

“We’re not really sure what he was planning but it looked like two lagoons, but we don’t know the volume, nor we don’t know the specs.

“He started clearing the area at the end of October, early November, but when he got wind of the residents discussion, he even had the diggers in on Sunday.

“40 unauthorised development forms had been lodged with Kildare County Council before the meeting on Tuesday, and the Council is taking this seriously.

“Communities are what keep the rules going, and Kildangan will not stand for that.

“We have a strong reputation for stepping on toes. He didn’t go for planning and we wouldn’t stand for it."