Green light for €50,000 treatment plant upgrade

PLANNING permission has been granted for the upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant at Quin Gardens, Quin following a resolution passed at the December meeting of Clare County Council that the local authority proceed with the project. PLANNING permission has been granted for the upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant at Quin Gardens, Quin following a resolution passed at the December meeting of Clare County Council that the local authority proceed with the project.
The proposed development comprises the upgrade of the existing municipal wastewater plant and includes a splitter chamber, a storm overflow tank, an aeration tank, a settlement tank and the removal of existing sludge beds and the replacement of the same with a new sludge tank.
The planned €500,000 upgrade of the waste water treatment plant in Quin is expected to end foul smells noted to be emanating from the existing plant in periods of heavy rain.
The works will increase the capacity of the treatment plant to a population equivalent of 1,400, which is to serve the needs of Quin village and its environs into the future.
There were no third-party submissions or observations, however, An Taisce filed two separate submissions. In the first, they raised concerns regarding the floodplain and in the second, they filed a geological report where it noted that “it is unlikely that the site of the treatment plant is subjected to flooding”.
The planner noted the site has been identified as being at a risk of flooding and that the risk would be from the adjacent River Rine. However, in assessing this risk, the planner said he was satisfied that having regard to the established use of the site as a wastewater treatment plant and having regard to the works proposed that the works will not be a cause of an increased chance of flooding of the site.
It was recommended to the elected members of Clare County Council that the development proceed in accordance with two suggestions outlined by the planner.
These were that the development be carried out in accordance with information submitted to the planning authority on August 19, 2011 and that landscaping be carried out on the site boundaries. This landscaping has to be implemented not later than the first planting season after the commencement of the development and any planting that is diseased or fails within two years of planting needs to be replaced.