Galway council may vote on waste plan

Galway County Council may decide to vote on the Connacht waste management plan this week. This is despite legislation introduced by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, to strip local authorities of their remit in this area.

The plan, which includes options for thermal treatment or incineration, was accepted by Galway Corporation in February after it had rejected the strategy six months previously.

The county of Galway is obliged to find a site for a new landfill under the strategy. This has proved to be as contentious as the incineration issue and Galway County Council voted down the plan in September.

Discussion of the waste plan may take place at the council's meeting this afternoon. It was due to vote again on it last month but this was deferred because of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Fine Gael TD Mr Paul Connaughton has described the legislation proposed by Mr Dempsey to strip local authorities of their waste management powers as a "direct hit" at local councillors and the communities they represented.

He said it set a dangerous precedent.

He also warned that other matters not related to waste management might be decided by similar legislation. This would remove councillors even further from the job they were elected to do.

The decision to side-step elected councillors was a retrograde one, he said, when there were calls for a greater say by local communities.

He said Galway should not be responsible for the waste of other counties in the region.

"It is difficult to blame Galway County Council for not wanting the waste of Connacht to be dumped in their county when there appears to be no great effort to site another landfill in the north Connacht area."

Last week, Fine Gael Mayo TD Mr Enda Kenny said waste management should be decided at regional, rather than local or central level, through the establishment of proper regional structures carrying authority.