WASTE for Powerstown will be transported out of the county for the next six to eight months.
It has emerged that household and commercial rubbish will be transferred out of the county’s main dump at Powerstown after the local authority decided it was uneconomic to keep it open.
Carlow County Council has a budget of €46.9 million for 2012 and it estimates that €1,111,038 will be spent on landfill operations during the year.
Although the facility will not close to the public, rubbish will now be moved out of Carlow to other waste facilities.
The move has been greeted angrily by local representatives, with cllr Fergal Browne saying: “Something is seriously wrong here; it’s a disaster. Haroldstown was closed, Kearnanstown operates on a reduced service and now we have this. It’s a joke and, in the meanwhile, we have widespread dumping on the side of the road.”
Cllr Browne added he was “completely baffled” by the move.
“We discussed operations at Powerstown at length during January’s budget meeting and at the monthly meeting. This was never flagged ... questions have to be answered here.” Councillors learned of the move after an email was sent to them last Friday.
“We won’t be held hostage to fortune,” said director of services John Carley. “We will do whatever is most economic. We are not the only ones experiencing these kinds of difficulties.”
Mr Carley pointed out that operations at Powerstown have been under review “for some time”.
He said a clause means the council has to reapply to An Bórd Pleanála for planning permission for Powerstown, and while that is being processed, waste will be transferred out of the county.
“It is definitely not closing down,” insisted Mr Carley. “We are still taking in waste but we will be transferring it to other facilities while we seek a renewal of our planning permission.”
He said that in the long term the council would be “looking at all of our options” and he pointed out that the change in procedures would not affect council jobs at Powerstown, adding it would be a “cost-neutral” transition.