Plans submitted for County Roscommon waste recovery facility

Roadstone has lodged plans with Roscommon County Council to develop an inert waste recovery facility near Brideswell in South Roscommon, with a completion timeline of nine years.

The company proposes that a 15 acre site at a dormant sandpit at Knocknanool townland, Brideswell will be partially backfilled with inert material, and that the backfill area will be restored to agricultural grassland.

The application notes that up to 190,000 tonnes of imported inert natural materials, principally excess soil, stones and/or broken rock, will be used to partially fill and restore a disturbed landform created by the previous extraction of sand and gravel.

The backfill area will be restored to agricultural grassland while the remainder of the site will be restored as a natural habitat.

The plan is to carry out the restoration works in two phases. Phase one will include the protection of existing calcareous grassland and preparation of the area for proposed calcareous grassland.

Phase two works will be carried out on the completion of the backfilling works, which will involve the restoration of the backfill area to agricultural grassland. The area to be grass seeded will be covered with approximately 350mm of subsoil and 150mm of topsoil.

According to Roadstone’s planning documents, it is expected that 25,000 to 33,000 tonnes will be used at the site yearly but the intake could be up to 50,000 tonnes per annum.

The proposed infrastructure includes a site office, staff welfare facilities (portaloo), weighbridge, wheelwash, hardstand areas, waste inspection and quarantine facility and covered shed.

In its application, Roadstone said the proposed development near Brideswell is an opportunity to push inert soil and stone waste “up the waste hierarchy”, and an opportunity to partially restore a limestone quarry to an “appropriate after use”.

“This approach to the recovery of waste to achieve the restoration of a dormant sand pit is established in principle through national, regional and local planning and waste policy,” said the company.

Roscommon County Council is due to make a decision on the company’s planning application by February 15th.