Stop the Dump in Fahan

A planning application has been submitted to Donegal County Council, seeks “retention planning permission for filling of lands” at Crislaghmore, in Fahan.

The application also seeks “retention planning permission for a machinery shed and planning permission to fill lands and all associated works.”
Residents fear they will be adversely affected by the proposed development.
The applicant in question has “made numerous applications for a ‘waste facility’, a ‘landfill site’, a ‘public dump’ and for ‘landfill’ for quarry material.”
Each time residents have objected, the applicant has gone on to let things expire, then reapplied on a ‘retention’ basis or as a new application.
The re-application is placed in a local newspaper, which probably has limited readership in the whole of the surrounding district. The applicant also posts applications at least 15 to 20 feet from the road so they cannot, not only be read but are impossible to see.
Residents feel as if the applicant is trying to ‘slip one by them’ each time.
The applicant has erected a shed post expiry of the last application. The shed was not in the previous specification and was not even in the same place as previously applied for. However, the applicant has now applied for retention of the shed and for landfill to help ‘enhance’ the land upon which the shed stands.

Residents are puzzled by the application for further building and landfill, when the applicant knew from the start that the area was not suitable for the shed. We also object to the landfill based on the fact that any material could be used, from household refuse to quarry, industrial and commercial refuse.

The applicant is also parking HGV lorries on residents' land “in contravention to’ Donegal County Council enforcement letters.
A second person is also parking lorries and keeping pallets of bricks on land in the area, also in contravention of a Donegal County Council enforcement notice.

Residents see drains being laid, landfill being delivered and other groundworks taking place, day and night. These people think they are ‘untouchable’ by Donegal County Council.

Residents are particularly upset by the fact that the applicant has widened part of a little country road. This used to be a quiet residential area but we now have HGV and other large machinery and equipment passing up and down the road, on an almost constant basis.
This is a single lane track, you wouldn’t even call it a road, which is not suitable for such machinery and the dust and noise is unbearable. In addition, the widening of the road has been entirely for the applicant’s benefit and not the community’s. They effectively built a turning circle for their trucks. It is unsightly and detracts from what was once a lovely country lane.

The community in Fahan is worried about the effect the fumes from the lorries is having on the health of children in the area.

Residents are also worried about the run off from this landfill, which will significantly interfere with the indigenous flora and fauna.

This run off will eventually reach Lough Swilly. There is a bird and wildfowl reserve on the banks Lough and the environmental impact would be huge. We also have mussels growing in the Lough, which are exported worldwide and the run off could also contaminate this lucrative local produce.

In recent times, the water supply has been interrupted, whilst work was ongoing on this site. And, subsequently, it has been cloudy and unfit to drink on occasion,

Donegal County Council is pursuing an “active enforcement case” against the applicant seeking retention planning permission for “filling of lands” in Fahan.

An Enforcement Notice is a legal document that requires certain action be taken to remedy a breach of planning control. They are issued where a development has taken place without the correct planning permission or outside the conditions of a planning permission.

It is an outrage that this slow but steady activity is continuing unabated and his refusal to comply with planning authorities is all but ignored by council.
This beautiful, scenic, quiet, country area MUST be saved.