NEAI claims access to College Proteins site denied

The North-East Against Incineration (NEAI) group, which is opposing the planned College Proteins expansion in Nobber, says it has been refused access to the proposed site of the project despite two promises from the company that access would be granted to its experts. NEAI claims that College Proteins on two occasions agreed to allow NEAI bring its own technical expertise to view the site and operations at the Nobber plant, the first time at last year's oral hearing and the second in a recent letter. However, the company has now rescinded allowing the promised visits, the campaign group claimed. When they tried to pin down a date, they were told they would no longer be welcome, according to John Keoghan, spokesperson for NEAI, who said they had arranged for an engineer, a water expert and a planner to take part in the visit, as well as their own chairman, who is an electrical engineer. "We were initially told there was no problem, and to organise it for after the holiday period. We received a letter back from Tadhg Boyle of College Proteins saying that a visit could be arranged after the holiday period, but when we went to firm up a date, the negative response was received." Mr Keoghan said that they were told that once they had experts with adequate health and safety training, they would be allowed on-site, and hoped to be able to do this before the new Bord Pleanala oral hearing into the incinerator project begins in September. Now, their experts will have to look at a similar site, and NEAI says there are no such sites in Ireland, and they will have to bear the costs of their experts travelling abroad, which is not easy in this financial climate. They were not awarded costs after the last hearing. If College Proteins has the best interest of the community at heart, then there is no reason why there should be any problems allowing access to the site, Mr Keoghan added. He said that the group is not surprised at the decision as it is "consistent with the turn-arounds that College Proteins are known for". He believes the company is punishing the group for stories that appeared in recent weeks in the media concerning a letter sent by College managing director John Gilroy to the Bishop of Meath complaining about the comments of a local priest, an issue which had nothing to do with the NEAI. College Proteins yesterday (Tuesday) said it has actively engaged with the community and local residents on its plans to build its proposed biomass CHP plant at its premises in Nobber. This included two public consultation days in Kingscourt and Nobber which, the company says, the NEAI boycotted. The company added it has complied fully with all its obligations to consult with interested parties and now looked forward to presenting its plans at the oral hearing, once a date is set by Bord Pleanala. College Proteins has spent considerable time in planning the development and has employed a team of experts in a number of aspects of the project to ensure it is designed to the highest standards, a spokesperson for the firm said. The plant will operate within all limits set out by the various regulatory bodies and will also help to secure the long-term future of College Proteins, as well as the 90 jobs provided by the plant and its contribution to the local economy, she added. NEAI said the comments by College Proteins about the public consultation process are irrelevant as it was not on-site but in the local hall, and was simply designed to go through the procedural motions.