On the day of the local elections in June, the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government directed the local and regional authorities to review the Waste Management Plans. On the 25th June an advertisement appeared in the Irish Times, on behalf of the Dublin City Council and the three other local authorities. It stated:

“Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 22 of the Waste Management Act, 1996 as amended, that Dublin City Council along with the other three local authorities in the region intends to review the existing Waste Management Plan for the Dublin Region.”

Dublin City Council will be the co-ordinating authority for the proposed review of the existing plan and the preparation of a new Plan. Written representations in relation to this matter may be made to the local authority by 4pm on Friday 31st of August 2004.

At a recent meeting of CRAI to which all public representatives in the South East Area and Pembroke electoral areas were invited, the following question was asked: “As there is a review of the Waste Management Plan for the Dublin Region taking place at this time, what input do you and your political party intend to make to this review and the making of a new plan?”

The Labour Party, who was fully represented at the meeting, assured us they would be making a submission. A representative for the PDs stated they too would make a submission, as did the Green Party. CRAI requested that copies of their submission should be supplied to them. The CRAI group together with the assistance of their legal team will also make a submission.

Another issue raised was the recent mysterious survey carried out in the area on what it would take for the community to accept an Incinerator. None of the politicians present was aware of this survey. Elizabeth Arnett in a letter to CRAI states: “Neither Dublin City Council nor any member of the Dublin Waste to Energy Project team was contacted in advance of this research being carried out and we had no input into defining the questions or the objectives of the exercise.”

The most extraordinary aspect of the questionnaire was the suggestion, repeated several times, that a sum of €2,000,000 was available to compensate the residents of the area for the problems that would arise from the location of the proposed incinerator in the midst of their community.

The way the incinerator proposal is being progressed seems to be concealed from the very public who will be the most affected if it is ever built. This is not an acceptable situation, and we await further developments with great interest.

The pressure has been put on people in the area to accept a mass burn Incinerator, while no actual decision has been made to site the Incinerator for the entire Regional Authority in Poolbeg. At the moment it is still the preferred or proposed site.

It is now five years since the proposal was first announced, and CRAI will continue to monitor the situation.

It could be that the object of the long process is to wear opposition to the Incinerator down and to try to instil the idea in the locals that this is a fait accompli. It is not; CRAI will take every avenue available to stop this proposal.

You can help, by either making a submission to the Waste Management Review or contacting your local political representative and telling them to stop this plan. Let them know you oppose it. Remember our health is our wealth and this is not for sale at any price.