Waste crisis after midlands regional dump refused

The midlands region could be facing a waste crisis after An Bord Pleanala refused permission for a regional superdump in Offaly. The expanded facility at Derryclure near Tullamore was viewed as a key regional landfill for across the midlands, particularly as Ballydonagh landfill in Athlone is due to close in the near future. Derryclure was seen as the most likely source for the dumping of waste from this area. However, Bord Pleanala's refusal to allow more waste be dumped at the Tullamore landfill annually throws a major spanner in the works for local authorities in the region. It could mean householders in South Westmeath may in the short-term have to pay through the nose to have their waste brought to landfills in as far away as Laois, North Tipperary or Galway. In the longer-term, domestic waste may now have to be transported to landfills outside the midlands. Offaly County Council had proposed to more than double the waste intake from 40,000 tonnes per annum to 100,000 tonnes per annum at the facility in Derryclure. The council said, in its application, that a failure to intensify intake at Derryclure would "result in a shortfall in landfill capacity in the Midlands region in the short and medium term". However, An Bord Pleanala ruled that it was not satisfied a waste disposal need in the midlands which would require the provision of an increase of 60,000 tonnes per annum at Derrclure had been adequately demonstrated.