Residents Fight New Incinerator Plans In Ringaskiddy Fourteen years after the initial planning process for an incinerator in Ringaskiddy, the residents of the village have yet another fight on their hands as Indaver have put in a third application for a Waste Incinerator, despite two refusals in the past. A meeting was held in the Ringaskiddy Community Centre last Monday, February 1st, where angry residents, groups and associations vented their anger on yet another application by Indaver for an incinerator and vowed to ‘fight them all the way’. Since the initial application back in 2001, hundreds of thousands of euro has been spent on oral hearings, court hearings and objections, all raised by concerned residents, not only in Ringaskiddy and Shanbally, but from as far away as Cobh and Kinsale who would also be affected by waste from the incinerator. Funds have been raised by coffee mornings, cake sales and the like over the years, TD’s and local councillors have been lobbied and have given their support to the fight against the incinerator, and it appeared that, following the second refusal by Cork County Council and An Bord Plaenála, that the issue was closed. However, Indavar reapplied for permission to An Bord Pleanála for a third time only last month with a number of changes to their original application including developing a 240,000 tonne facility with improved roadside and coastal protection as well as financial sweetners for the community. As it was pointed out at the meeting, nothing has changed and the prospect of having an incinerator covering the waste from nine counties was not ‘acceptable at any cost’. What was apparent at the meeting was that Indaver had already been refused planning permission on two previous occasions, and seem to be ‘hell bent’ on setting up a facility in Ringaskiddy come what may, much to the disgust and dismay of the community. In recent years the village of Ringaskiddy has seen an upsurge in housing estates, numbers increasing in local schools and the new community playground with confidence riding high with the now world renowned IMERC Research Centre and Naval College, the redevelopment of the Eastern tip of Haulbowline Island into a tourism and recreational centre by 2017 giving “substantial benefits to the local economy and transform the Island into a genuine national infrastructural asset”. This, coupled with the continual development of Spike Island and Camden Fort Meagher in nearby Crosshaven in to tourist attractions, the cruise liner traffic into Cobh and the Ferry terminal bringing in thousands of tourists into the country, the last thing the community and lower harbour needs is an incinerator causing, not only a blot on the landscape, but also endangering the lives of those living within a 50km radius. Local TD’s and councillors were present at the meeting in Ringaskiddy last Monday and with an election on the horizon, vowed to support the community in their fight against the planning application. A second meeting to discuss objections will take place in the Ringaskiddy Community Centre on Monday 15th February at 8pm and residents from the lower harbour, including Passage West, Monkstown, Carrigaline, Crosshaven, Cobh, Kinsale and Douglas, are invited to attend to voice their objections to the proposal.