Kilchreest residents have come together to oppose a planning application by waste treatment company Walsh Waste to set up a waste management facility in the village.

A sign in the village of Kilchreest protesting against the Walsh Waste plan. Photo: Declan Monaghan

John Leech, spokesperson for Kilchreest Concerned Residents and Parents Group, told the Galway Independent that the community has been "galvanised" by the "strong depth of feeling" against the new plant.

"Kilchreest Concerned Residents and Parents Group are alarmed and deeply concerned over plans by Walsh Waste Ltd to develop a waste sorting plant in their community," said a statement issued by the group.

Residents and other interested parties have made a total of 84 objections to the plan, a decision on which will be made at the end of this week. Local TD Ulick Burke has also made a submission.

"The huge concern in the area is that, while the plan is specific at the moment, it may lead in future to something else, like incineration or something like that. There was an operation there previously dealing with hides and things like that and the local people grew up with that. But this is something they fear," said the Fine Gael TD.

Deputy Burke said the plant would not service just Galway but also areas further afield, and locals were concerned that this would cause traffic, noise pollution and dust in the area.

The planning permission application is 'to change the use of two buildings from an existing animal skin and hide curing and storage facility to a Materials Recovery Facility', which will process and recycle construction and demolition waste and dry recyclables from municipal waste.

According to Gerard Walsh of Walsh Waste, the plans will in fact improve conditions in the area.

"At the moment it's animals skins and hides, this will be 50 times better than what's there.

"We have done a full Environmental Impact Assessment on site and it won't have any negative impacts, it should improve it," he said.

The group does not agree. An objection written by Jack O'Sullivan, the environmental expert hired to advise on the objections, claimed there were several environmental problems with the application.

The problems identified by the group include the distance of 30 miles from the waste's source in Galway city, causing an increase in heavy traffic on the local road network, conflict between the facility and the Galway County Development Plan, threats to fish in the Owenshee River, and the health of local children, whose school is just 140 metres from the proposed plant.

They also cite An Bord Pleanála's refusal to grant permission for Walsh Waste's proposed facility at Craughwell.

The land is currently not zoned and, if rezoned will be the only industrially zoned land in the area. The site was also used for filming Alfred the Great in the 1960s.

In response, Mr Walsh has accused the Kilchreest residents of "nimbyism", saying they are being hypocritical.

"There's a lot of nimbyism – 'I'm all for recycling but don't do it anywhere near me' is the attitude. There's a lot of scaremongering and misinformation going around – some residents are spreading rumours about incinerators and hazardous waste, and that's not true," he said.

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