Huge €1.3bn north Dublin sewage plant gets go ahead after seven years in planning system
Dublin
sewage plant, designed to serve 500,000 people, has finally been granted permission by
An Coimisiún Pleanála
after seven years in the planning system.
Delays to the construction of the plant, which will serve north Dublin, Meath and Kildare, have repeatedly been cited in
restricting the development of new housing
across the Dublin region, as well as posing environmental and health risks.
The Greater Dublin Drainage Project, one of
Uisce Éireann's
largest national infrastructure projects, involves the construction of a vast sewage plant in Clonshaugh, close to
Dublin Airport
.
It aims to ease the burden on the municipal sewage plant in Ringesnd in south Dublin, as well as facilitating growth in the capital's population.
READ MORE
The need for a regional sewage plant for the capital was identified 20 years ago and Uisce Eireann has said it is 'vital' to safeguard public health, protect the environment, and facilitate future development.
The scheme involves the construction of an underground pipeline beginning at Blanchardstown, which will collect and transfer sewage, via a new pumping station at Abbotstown, north of the M50, to the plant at Clonshaugh.
The treated water will be discharged to the Irish Sea through a 6km marine outfall pipeline from Baldoyle to a point 1km northeast of Ireland's Eye.
An application for the plant was submitted to An Bord Pleanála, the predecessor of the coimisiún, in June 2018 and was granted permission in 2019. However, the decision was subject of a successful judicial review and referred back to
An Bord Pleanála
for a new decision.
The coimisiún has finally granted permission for the plant this week.
Uisce Éireann has delivered a series of warnings in recent months about its ability to from supply new homes. In March the utility's chairman Jerry Grant told a
Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland
conference that the State's water and sewerage systems 'are in a desperate state' because of 'extraordinary complacency' and 'passive indifference' in investment in infrastructure.
The goal of building 50,000 homes could not be met unless there was a 'new approach from the Government' and 'leadership from the very top' in developing water services, Mr Grant said.
In May, Uisce Éireann said that by 2028 it 'may be unable to grant new connections to the wastewater network in parts of the
Greater Dublin Area
'.
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