Carlow County Council is to make a corporate submission to An Coimisiún Pleanála regarding Net Zero Energy’s proposed hydrogen storage facility just outside the village of Rathoe.
Following a public meeting held in Rathoe on Monday last (November 2nd) the matter came under discussion at the Council’s November meeting yesterday, with several elected members, including Councillor Charlie Murphy (Ind), seeking clarification on what the local authority’s submission may address.
In response to queries from both Cllr Murphy and Cllr Will Paton (Ind), Council Chief Executive Cóilín O’Reilly said the Council operates within a “very prescribed” framework when it comes to what it can opine on.
He encouraged members to consult previous submissions that the Executive has lodged to An Coimisiún Pleanála, including the Powerstown Biomethane Plant, to see the parameters that it is governed by.
When asked about the potential employment of a geologist by the Council in preparing its submission, the CEO told Cllr Murphy that such a suggestion fell outside its own legislative competency.
“The key thing to remember is (that) we will make a corporate submission on what we are responsible for,” he said. “We don’t have the competence in the health and safety of the site; the HSA will make that submission. We will make our submission based on the (County) Development Plan, based on the roads, based on the things (that) we’re responsible for.
“We’re not going to make a submission on the safety of hydrogen as a gas – that’s not our role. Our role is to make sure that anything in the development is in line with the Development Plan, if it is has an effect on the county and the things that we are responsible for, we will make a submission. We’re not the planning authority for this.”
In a bid to further clarify its role, the Council Executive is to prepare a report for Councillors detailing its specific competencies and what it is obliged to address when making such a submission.
“I thought we’d have a more rounded position from the Council,” Cllr Murphy told KCLR News. “I really thought that they should be looking more at this since what’s been proposed is basically the first facility of its kind to be proposed anywhere in the world. To be told that it’s not our field and that we should go the Health And Safety Authority (HSA) is disappointing.”
Following the meeting, KCLR News spoke to Cllr Murphy about the Council Executive’s position regarding its submission on the NZE proposal.
