A NEW OBJECTION seeks to block the Dublin Drainage Project, despite pleas from the government to allow the vital water project to proceed after years of delay.

The project was given the green light in July, after seven years of uncertainty caused by legal challenges.

The major wastewater treatment plant, which will have the capacity to serve 500,000 people, is to be located on a 30-hectare site in Clonshagh in Fingal. Uisce Éireann says people in north Dublin, as well as parts of Meath and Kildare will benefit from it.

Objections to the development over environmental concerns had slowed the planning process, and had knock-on effects for housing projects in the area.

The cost of the project has doubled over the last seven years, now sitting at €1.3 billion. 

An Coimisiún Pleanála deemed it unnecessary to hold more public meetings and said there would be net positive long-term effects on public health.

The latest objector, NGO Wild Ireland Defence, says it advocates for the protection, conservation, preservation and defence of the natural environment.

It’s run by Peter Sweetman and Catherine McMahon. When contacted by The Journal, Sweetman said that he did not comment on active cases.

In the affidavit, Catherine McMahon said that recent public commentary has sought to position the Greater Dublin Drainage Project as a solution to the housing crisis.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said that while he respects that individuals can and should exercise their planning rights, objections can impact the “common good”.

He said the government is considering how it can respond to serial objectors to prevent important projects from being stalled unnecessarily. 

“In the case of this application, and in particular our larger projects, more must be done to establish that their individual rights are being infringed in some way,” he said.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said during the summer that water supply is the most fundamental common good of all.

 ”I’m not sure that people are as aware of the urgency of all of this.

“I would appeal to people not to object any further. I would appeal to people not to engage in judicial reviews of that An Bord Pleanala planning decision in terms of the drainage project, because the people of Dublin need it and surrounding counties need it.” 

He went on to state that as a society, there is now a need to “balance our concerns about particular projects with the overall common good in society”. 

“We do not have the luxury or the capacity for extended judicial review mechanisms and processes anymore. Because the situation, in respect of the most fundamental of all, infrastructure, is serious,” said Martin.

Investment in infrastructure will be a key pillar in this year’s budget, he said, stating that if it is not done now, future generations “will not forgive us”.

Sweetman had voiced concern that some of the findings in Irish Water’s environmental impact assessment report on the project were not “complete, precise and definitive”.

In July, a report by An Coimisiún Pleanála said there will be “a number of slight or short and very localised negative impacts” to marine biodiversity.

There could also be “short-term moderate” impact on birds due to the noise and visual disturbance.

“The cumulative benefits of the totality of the treatment system extend beyond the impact of the emissions,” the Commission said.