Written by
Meath Chronicle, 28th July, 2011 -
“Plans to construct a large maintenance building at Boyerstown, Navan, for operations on the M3 motorway are meeting with strong objections from residents in the area who say the facility is more suited to "an industrial-type area" than a rural area.
Local people, who say the facility would be within a short distance of homes there, are being backed in their objections by several councillors, including Cllr Shane Cassells who said that the application for the facility by Eurolink Motorway Operations (M3) Ltd raised serious questions about the removal of safeguards which were put in place for the benefit of residents when the M3 motorway was constructed.
Up to 19 individual objections have been submitted to Meath County Council, in addition to a joint objection from 26 residents who are members of the Old Athboy Road Residents’ Association.
The company has sought permission for a maintenance building with a gross floor area of 904sq metres, a salt barn with an area of 432sq m, a new entrance onto public road, liquid petroleum gas tank, diesel tanks, washdown area and hard-standing area for the "esssential operation of the M3 Clonee to North of Kells motorway".
The development will also include offices, toilet facilities, parking area, concrete post and chainlink security fencing along the boundaries of the site and wastewater treatment system on a site of approximately 1.7 hectares.
It is also intended that the development will consist of the lowering of existing ground levels on the site and the removal of approximately 16,000m3 of material from the site and disposal of this material off-site.
Local resident John Hurley, one of the co-ordinators of objections to the application for planning permission, said this week that the development was totally unsuited to a rural area. He said the company had claimed the development would consist of "a modest farmyard layout" but added that it would be hard to find a farmyard of such proportions as the one sugested for Boyerstown. He said that several houses in the area were just 150m from the proposed facility. In another case, two residents had a planning application with the council for a house which would end up just 100m from the planned Eurolink site.
He said local residents were objecting on the basis of noise levels from the site but added that the application was in "total contradiction" of the environmental impact statement made in connection with the proposed development.
Cllr Cassells said the buildings proposed for the site would range from 7.3m to 8.6m in height. "Our development plan is crystal clear when it comes to protecting rural communities so that the physical environment and natural heritage of such areas are not compromised. We had an extensive oral hearing to get the M3 motorway through planning and it is not acceptable that maintenance sites, which are now being described as ‘essential’, were not included at that stage," he said.”
Source:
Boyerstown locals say ‘no’ to huge M3 depot project by Paul Murphy, Meath Chronicle, Thursday, 28th July, 2011 –
