A TD is seeking “answers” as to why a report looking at the Banagher Chilling meat processing development in Co. Offaly has not yet been completed.
According to Laois-Offaly TD Carol Nolan, there is “still no indication” from An Bord Pleanála as to when an inspector’s report relating to the development will be submitted.
Nolan said this morning (Thursday, March 24) that she “received assurances” in January that the inspectors report would be released “within two weeks”.
It is now around 15 months since the report was originally scheduled to be released, before several push backs.
“It is simply beyond a joke at this point that there is still no sign of the inspector’s report on the appeal relating to Banagher Chilling,” the independent TD said.
“As many constituents, particularly those within the farming community, will be aware, An Bord Pleanála were due to receive the inspectors report in January of last year,” she pointed out.
“Then in March last year, it was confirmed to me that it had yet to receive it, despite the new deadline of March 1, having come and gone,” Nolan added.
“In September 2021, [the planning authority] were still not in a position to confirm when the inspector would submit the report on the appeal.
“It did appear in January that we were eventually going to have some clarity about the future of the project, but unfortunately here we are again, for one more spin on the An Bord Pleanála merry-go-round,” she remarked.
The TD highlighted the potential for the new facility, if it got off the ground, to stimulate the local rural economy in the area; expand market competition in the meat processing sector; and make Co. Offaly “attractive as a site capable of generating inward investment”.
“What has been equally frustrating throughout this entire saga is that An Bord Pleanála has failed to provide a single reason as to what is actually causing the delay,” she claimed.
“We must have answers on this matter and we must have clarity as soon as possible,” she concluded.