Hoey family-controlled agri-business secures planning for Dublin anaerobic digestion facility
Gordon Deegan
The Hoey family-controlled Country Crest agri-business group in north Dublin has secured planning permission for contentious plans for an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility 1.5km from Lusk.
This follows An Comisiún Pleanála overturning a refusal issued by Fingal County Council for the project last year, which will produce a renewable biomethane gas for direct injection into the national gas grid.
Grass silage will be the main feedstock component of the proposed AD Plant, while other significant components include poultry litter, whole crop silage, slurry, and water.
Documents lodged with the application show that while grass silage will account for 24,500 tonnes per annum, the AD facility will accept 7,000 tonnes of poultry manure and 1,080 of cattle manure per annum.
ACP has granted planning permission after concluding that the proposal would not seriously injure the residential amenities of property in the vicinity or the visual amenities of the area, would not result in any unacceptable ecological or biodiversity impacts, and would be capable of being adequately served by the proposed wastewater, surface water, and water supply arrangements.
ACP has enclosed a condition that the total volume of feedstock accepted by the facility shall not exceed 70,110 tonnes per annum.
ACP granted planning permission after its inspector in the case, Stephen Ward, concluded that the proposed development “would protect and promote agricultural and rural economic resources through the use of agricultural feedstock and through the supply of digestate as agricultural fertiliser”.
The council had refused planning permission after concluding that it was unacceptable due to the land-use zoning of the site as the Council considered the proposed facility ‘industrial’ and unacceptable concerning its visual impact.
The council refused planning permission to Country Crest for the facility after a micro-boutique winery and other locals objected.
Objectors claimed that the proposal will do nothing for the local community and pointed out that there are several family homes and rural clusters in close proximity to the site and there were concerns about impacts including visual impact, residential amenity, noise, odours, air quality, traffic, and health.
Today, the Lusk based Country Crest group supplies 30,000 tonnes of fresh produce to retailers per annum and in addition, the group’s Ballymaguire Foods supply 500,000 fresh chilled meals and soups to the Irish market each week.
The Country Crest group also farms 3,000 acres of land and the growth of the business was outlined in appeal documents lodged with ACP contesting Fingal Co Council’s planning refusal.
In a joint letter to An Comisiún Pleanála, directors of County Crest, Michael Hoey and Gabriel Hoey stated that “we pay approximately €500,000 in wages every week.”
They state: “We are 4th generation farmers. Over the last 40 years, we have changed from a very simple farming model to today’s modern state of the art business model employing 500 staff.
The Hoeys state: "We now farm potatoes, onions, cereals in combination with cattle rearing in counties Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Louth."
"Sustainable farming is at the very heart of what we do and the AD proposal at the subject of this year is a further extension of this philosophy.”
The two state that the AD facility will allow Country Crest to “play our part in the delivery of the National Biomethane Strategy”.
“We feel that Country Crest as a business has developed to such a scale with careful, well managed and planned business objectives which have at all times kept us to the forefront in terms of sustainability and the environment.
"We feel that this AD project will further enhance our business, allow us to manage our food process byproducts on site and build a solid foundation for our farming enterprise."
