GALWAY COUNTY COUNCIL - 22nd January 2001

1.    It is the view of this council that Thermal Treatment is not an appropriate option at this stage.  However, in view of E.U. and National Waste Policies, the need for thermal treatment will be reviewed annually for the next five years.  Subject to progress made on Minimisation, Reduction and Recycling of waste, the elected members will give further consideration to thermal treatment or alternative technologies.  The final decision on this issue will rest with the elected members.

2.    That the Councils of the County and City would remain in close contact and the position/approach of each would be known to the other in relation to this issue.

3.    That uniform charges for the collection of domestic refuse would apply throughout the City and County from 1st January 2002.

4.    That the question of recycling be discussed in detail to ensure a uniform, simultaneous and genuine effort is made to get recycling going and sufficient resources, both locally and especially from the Department of the Environment, are invested in recycling.

5.    That the two regional landfills for Connaught are progressed concurrently thus ensuring the landfill in Galway will serve for the most part the residents and businesses of the Galway area.  This landfill must be progressed in consultation with the elected members of this Council.

PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

 

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Here is a newspaper report on the 2001 vote:

Galway Advertiser - Page 6 - April 12, 2001

COUNTY COUNCIL REJECTS WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN IN DEFIANCE OF MINISTER

by Una Sinnott

Galway County Council has rejected the Connacht Waste Management Plan for a second time despite mounting pressure from central Government to adopt the controversial scheme.
                   
At a special meeting of the local authority on Monday, councillors once more voted unanimously against the plan, and were strongly critical of Minister for the Environment and Local Government Noel Dempsey's plans to take waste decision-making powers out of the hands of public representatives.

The council has undertaken to prepare a waste management plan for the county which could also cater for the city, despite the fact that this decision could be overturned by the minister within days. It is likely that the council will mount a legal challenge to the Waste Management Amendment Bill 2001 - which would see waste powers passed to city and county managers -if it is enacted when it comes before the Dáil in the near future.
                   
The council first rejected the CWMP last September, and Cllr Joe Callanan, who proposed that the plan be rejected again, said that nothing had changed since the local authority first voted on the document.

"It wouldn't take long to draw up a plan that the councillors would agree with," he claimed. "There should be a very high percentage of recycling, there should be no incineration, and there should be a landfill in a remote area."

Callanan's proposal was seconded by his Fianna Fáil colleague Cllr Matt Loughnane. "Today's discussion cannot be taken in isolation from the September meeting," Loughnane asserted. "Last September we said we didn't like it. Every councillor in this chamber put forward reasons as to why this plan should be rejected.

"This is dictatorship," he said of the minister's plans to enforce the plan through legislation. "There was no input by the elected members or by the public into this plan."

Dep. Paul Connaughton claimed that discussions on the plan had centred on its implications for Galway city and county, and there had been little mention anywhere of the proposed landfill site in north Connacht outlined in the plan.  

"None of the three small communities are in a position to take a landfill site," he said of Kilrickle, New Inn, and Newbridge, which have been earmarked as possible locations for a landfill in the plan.

"It is beyond question that incineration is not acceptable and that it is dangerous," Dep. Ulick Burke said of the most controversial aspect of the plan.
                   
Cllr Tim Rabbitt described the consultation process which councillors were involved in as "laughable", and Cllr Paddy McHugh claimed that the minister was "obsessed with incineration".

Cllr JJ Mannion criticised Dempsey for giving local authorities bad publicity by implying that they had failed to make a decision on waste management. "We made a decision in September," he asserted. "We have had more meetings and presentations on this than the minister has had.

" The council then adopted a proposal - put forward by Fine Gael councillors - to prepare a waste management plan for Galway county, which would also cater for waste from the city.

© Galway Advertiser.

 

GALWAY COUNTY Council has unanimously voted against the Connacht Waste Management Plan for a second time, and has proposed to prepare it's own waste management strategy despite pressure from central Government.
                             
Councillors rejected the controversial plan when they met to discuss waste management yesterday. The local authority had previously rejected the plan when it was first discussed last September.
                             
The proposal was led by Fianna Fail councillors, and was passed amid much criticism of Minister for the Environment and Local Government Noel Dempsey, who plans to transfer waste powers to county managers.
                             
The local authority has undertaken to prepare a waste management plan for Galway county, which will cater for Galway city. City councillors voted to adopt the CWMP in February.

The implications of Monday vote may prove to be short lived, as Dempsey pushes ahead with legislation designed to take decision making powers on waste management out of the hands of elected representatives.
                             
Several groups who have strongly opposed the plan - such as Galway for a Safe Environment, Galway Green Party, Newbridge Action Committee, and residents' groups in Kilrickle and Ballinahistle have commended the council for its decision. (Tue 10/04/01)

Also, Galway Corporation (now Council) also voted against the Connaught Waste Plan in 2000.  

 

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GALWAY CORPORATION VOTE ON WASTE - JULY 24, 2000

"It was proposed by Councillor F. Coogan, seconded by Ald. P. McCormack, and agreed that Galway City council accept the thrust of the Connacht Waste Management Plan in relation to its objectives to reduce, reuse and recycle waste, that measurable and realistic targets are set, and yearly reports submitted to Council on the achievement of these targets, that thermal treatment is excluded and that Galway Corporation aligns itself and consults with Galway County Council on a Waste Plan for Galway City and County".

Passed unanimously.