Councillors in the Fingal area of north Dublin have this evening rejected a budget proposal to build a huge sewerage treatment plant dealing with the waste of up to a million people near the coastal village of Portrane.
Hundreds of residents from the area this protested outside the headquarters of Fingal County Council in Swords over the proposal. The lobby group Fair Share led the protest outside the council's offices as councillors debated the local authority's waste water treatment budget up to 2012.
The draft "assessment of needs" document is a budget prepared by the council and submitted to the Department of the Environment for approval.
Among other plans, it contains the proposal and request for funding for the Portrane sewerage plant, which would ultimately treat the waste of between 850,000 and 1,000,000 people living in areas such as Blanchardstown, Mulhuddart, Lucan, Klondiking, parts of south Dublin and parts of east Meath.
However, councillors ultimately voted to delete all references to the massive plant from the budget document.
They also decided that an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) should be carried out before any further moves to build such a plant.
Objectors said they wanted a stronger assurance that the plant, as envisaged, will never be built. Many of those opposing a plant on the planned scale have said they would accept a plant catering for up to 55,000 people in the Donabate, Portrane, Rush and Lusk areas.
Before this evening's meeting, a spokeswoman for Fingal County Council said the vote was not specifically about the waste water treatment plant but was a vote on the draft assessment of needs document, which will be submitted to the Department.
She pointed out that the recent Greater Dublin Area Strategic Drainage Study contained an objective for such a plant to cater for the entire area up to 2031. The inclusion of the plan for the sewerage plant in Fingal's assessment of needs reflected this, she said.
Portrane, a small village on the Fingal coast north east of Swords, was one of seven Irish beaches to lose its Blue Flag status in 2005 because it failed to reach the required water quality standard. The beach did not meet the EU Guideline values for faecal streptococci.
Those opposing the plant, including Green Party leader and north Dublin TD Trevor Sargent, favour a number of smaller treatment plants to allow communities to deal with their own waste issues.
A spokeswoman for Donabate Parish Council said a "good crowd" was in place outside the council meeting.
Around 2,500 submissions objecting to the plant have been sent to Fingal County Council.