Will planning application divide community?

Magheracloone residents are worried that an application for a new open cast mine in the area will cause community division if it is linked to the planning application to replace GAA facilities lost as a result of mine subsidence in September 2018.

In June of this year, Gyproc committed to replace the GAA club infrastructure in Magheracloone. The mining company had been in talks with the GAA before the subsidence. Some local residents have expressed concern about the company’s plans for a new open cast mine at the site of the crownhole that destroyed the sports field.
The mining company said no planning application for an open cast quarry has been submitted and added that the sports ground plans “will not be tied to future planning application for open cast quarry”.
Geraldine Ward from the Drumgossatt/Knocknacran residents group in Magheracloone claimed Gyproc said, at a forum meeting hosted by Monaghan County Council that brought together all affected parties, that: “If they do not get planning permission for the open cast mining, then the GAA will only get the facilities they lost.”
The residents group came together after the subsidence in their parish on September 24, 2018. They hosted a meeting yesterday evening (Tuesday) in Drumgossatt NS. Speaking ahead of the meeting, Ms Ward said: “Our group is quite small, they are only from 13 families affected by the proposed mine extension. We have put out an invitation to see if other people feel they would be affected by the extension of the open cast mine. There are a lot of other families affected by the existing mine and we have
asked them to attend this meeting.”
She contends that the mining activity has caused many disruptions since the subsidence 13 months ago: “The R179, the Kingscourt Carrickmacross Road, is being closed for a number of weeks so that Gyproc can do work under it as a pass to their new and old mines.”
Ms Ward feels that statutory agencies, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are not looking out for the interests of the residents: “Blasting is a huge issue. The EPA have been invited numerous times to people’s homes. They finally came two weeks ago.”
She further stated that every Thursday, since August 1, there has been a specific road closed to the public. “There are two gardaí either end of a little road to facilitate that blasting. We requested by email that the EPA attend to come an put up a monitoring point outside the homes. The first time they came out, the hedges were cut and the road was washed by Gyproc before they arrived,” she further alleged.
The environmental watchdog issued a statement on the matter saying: ‘Saint Gobain Construction Products (Ireland) Limited hold an Industrial Emissions Licence, from the EPA for the existing open cast mine (Knocknacran) and underground mine (Drummond) and associated gypsum processing.
‘The EPA receives details of the date and time of scheduled blasts approximately one month in advance and then may choose to undertake monitoring. The EPA has recently undertaken blast monitoring in the vicinity of the mine, the monitoring by the EPA has been in response to the receipt of a number of complaints.’
In relation to monitoring, the statement said: ‘The monitoring undertaken by the EPA is unannounced. 95% of EPA site visits to licensed industrial and waste sites in 2018 were unannounced. The licensee is also required to undertake blast monitoring, records of their monitoring are available for inspection by the EPA.’
Gyproc also rejected any suggestion they received prior notification of EPA inspections: “Gyproc does not receive notification from the EPA on their schedule of surveys to assess blast levels. All surveys by the EPA to assess blast levels at Gyproc sites are unannounced.”
A statement from Gyproc confirmed a replacement of the Magheracloone GAA Club and Community Centre facilities is not in question. They also denied that the replacement of facilities will be tied to future planning application for open cast quarry.
A statement points to good progress being made in direct consultation with GAA Club and states that a community liaison manager is in frequent contact with evacuated families to resolve their concerns.
The statement said: “Gyproc has confirmed that no planning application for an open cast quarry has been submitted regarding its lands in the Magheracloone area. The company’s primary focus at this time is the restoration of normality for residents in the area who have faced road closures, the replacement of important sporting and community facilities lost as a result of the subsidence in 2018 and finding a satisfactory solution for those residents still unable to return to their homes.
“The replacement of these community facilities, being discussed directly with the relevant representative groups concerned will not be tied to a future planning application regarding the lands on which the old facilities were located.”