College Proteins re-submits incinerator planning application

College Proteins confirmed this week it is to lodge a new planning application for a biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plant at its Nobber plant. The move comes just weeks before Bord Pleanála is set to adjudicate on the validity of the firm"s earlier Strategic Infrastructural Development Scheme (SIDS) application, which was adjourned dramatically at an oral hearing in Navan in October. The firm said it had withdrawn the initial application because of a technical error in documents supplied in the application, specifically the five acres of land not in its ownership. A spokesman said College Proteins had apologised to the board for the error and expected to submit a revised planning application, rectifying the error, in the near future. The proposed change would involve excluding the mistakenly included five acres with a 'roughly equivalent amount of land situated north of this area', to facilitate the required soil deposition associated with the development, he added. The change was 'quite minor' in the overall scheme of things. The new operation, if granted planning permission, would create an additional 18 jobs to the existing 100 at the College Road plant, while construction is expected to create 100 jobs over its two-year span. The College Proteins plant currently processes animal by-products and generates 37,500 tonnes of meat and bonemeal (MBM) annually from its operations. It explained its intention to develop the CHP plant in order to address cost competitiveness for its long-term viability. The MBM source is 'indigenous, renewal and carbon-neutral', most of which is currently exported to mainland Europe, the firm said. Its proposed plant would produce eight mW of electricity, two mW of which would be used in the plant and the balance sold to the national electricity grid, sufficient to meet the demand of about 4,000 homes. The new application comes just weeks after an Irish Cement application to source MBM for its new extension to its Platin plant, outside Duleek. The precise quantity of available MBM nationally proved a major bone of contention at the oral hearing, with opponents challenging College Proteins" assertion that it could source over 51,000 tonnes annually. North-East Against Incineration (NEAI) spokesman John Keogan confirmed this week it would be meeting its legal counsel this week, and members of his organisation were adamant their considerable legal costs from the oral hearing to date should be met by the applicant. He said they would await the fresh planning application and would organise a public meeting in the near future to give the fullest information to the local community. Christy O"Reilly, chairman of NEAI, responding to the news that College Proteins are reapplying for planning permission, said: 'We cannot understand how this application can come under the Strategic Infrastructure Bill. We believe that it should be dealt with through the normal planning process through Meath County Council. For a number of different reasons, there is no need for this development. There are three facilities in Meath alone that either have or will have in the future, the facility to process this material.' Meanwhile, firefighters from Nobber Fire Brigade were joined by colleagues from Navan at an incident at the College Road plant on Sunday evening, where a fire in a cooker section was brought under control. The plant was shut down after the outbreak was discovered shortly before 7pm, and the firemen soon brought the blaze under control. The blaze was extinguished and the two fire appliances had left the site by about 9pm.