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TIPT is a free weekly environmental news service published weekly by Friends of the Irish Environment. More than 12,800 stories from the last four years are searchable on our website, where comments can be posted on individual stories.
http://friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/ |
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Ireland accused of being 'in denial' on gas emissions |
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 AS THE latest UN climate change talks got under way yesterday in the Polish city of Poznan, Friends of the Earth Ireland (FoEI) has accused the Government of being "in denial" about Ireland's responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to FoEI director Oisín Coghlan, Ireland is "dragging its feet" in the EU negotiations that observers believe will largely determine whether a global deal to contain climate change can be agreed at the next UN climate-change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.
"Ten years ago Ministers in this Government signed up to our Kyoto target; then completely failed to stick to it. So this time around the plan seems to be 'commit to as little as possible'. Read more. |
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Teenagers express fear and powerlessness in face of climate change |
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 TEENAGERS SPOKE yesterday about being "frightened" about climate change and said they felt almost "powerless" to stop it. About 100 young people from across the State met in Dublin at an event hosted by Eco-Unesco, an environmental education and youth organisation which aims to raise awareness of environmental issues among young people.
The first national What's So Hot About Climate Change? day brought the teenagers together to meet environmental experts, discuss their own concerns and to bring back recommendations. Read more. |
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An Bord Pleanála fails to halt Poolbeg court action |
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 AN BORD Pleanála has lost its High Court bid to prevent local resident groups opposed to the proposed Poolbeg waste incinerator in Dublin pursuing court claims.
The groups claim they are entitled to an independent review of how An Bord Pleanála addressed issues relating to an environmental impact statement (EIS)for the development.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton said the action by the residents would be effectively dead if the court granted the board's application to strike out the claims relating to the EIS issues. Read more. |
| Watchdog urges landfill levies to be tripled |
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 THE Environmental Proection Agency (EPA) has irged a threefold increase in andfill levies to persuade louseholders to reduce the imount of rubbish they hrow out.
An EPA-funded study discovered the current levy sf EUR20 per tonne of rubbish was of little deterrent to households, even though the cost is at least partially passed on to them through waste collection charges.
EPA economist Dr John Curtis said even an increase of 50% next year, and further hefty increases to EUR75 over the following four years, would do little good as it would only reduce the amount of waste households put out for landfill by 25,000 tonnes. Read more. |
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Incinerator plans unveiled despite Gormley warning |
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 PLANNING permission has been sought for an incinerator which will treat up to 240,000 tonnes of industrial and household waste a year. Indaver Ireland, which is already constructing a waste to energy plant in Co Meath, hopes to have also a EUR150m plant open in Co Cork in 2013 which will generate enough electricity to power 30,000 homes a year.
Yesterday it sought planning permission from An Bord Pleanala under the Strategic Infrastructure Act, meaning that the board - and not the local authority - will decide the application. Read more. |
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Windfarm work restarts despite landslide fears |
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 WORK has recommenced on a windfarm in the Stack's mountains near Tralee, which was at the centre of concerns after a bogland slide in late August. The damage led to road blockages and houses being cut off, along with water supplies to thousands of homes being threatened.
The turf choked a spawning area for salmon and trout and considerable damage was caused, including the death of many fish. The area is part of the Smearlagh River catchment, one of the healthiest salmon and sea trout rivers in the southwest. Read more. |
| Heritage body says new road in Kilkenny intrusive |
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 PLANS FOR a major road in Kilkenny, with a new bridge across the River Nore, have been strongly criticised by the Heritage Council as an "inappropriate" intrusion into the setting of one of Ireland's most important medieval towns.
In advance of an An Bord Pleanála oral hearing on the "central access scheme", due to open today, the State agency with responsibility for heritage has called for the "poorly conceived" plan to be reconsidered in the light of current policies.
An Taisce has also written to Minister for the Environment John Gormley, urging him to strengthen the submission made by his department's heritage division, saying it did not "properly consider" the severance impact of the road scheme. Read more.
Includes today's report on the first day of the Oral Hearing. |
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Hearing into gas pipeline begins |
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 AN ORAL hearing by An Bord Pleanála into the construction of a pipeline to connect the proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Co Kerry to the national gas network near Foynes, Co Limerick, begins in Listowel today.
The hearing will take place at the Listowel Arms Hotel and is scheduled to last for up to nine days. The €500 million terminal, the State's first, on a Shannon Development-owned land bank on the Shannon estuary, was granted permission in March. It too was the subject of an oral hearing. Read more. |
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'Positive outcome' to pylons meeting |
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 FINE GAEL Deputy Shane McEntee (Meath East) has welcomed "the positive outcome" to a meeting between party representatives and a delegation from the North East Pylon Pressure campaign.
Deputy McEntee said: "We had a good, constructive meeting with the NEPP delegation and, as a result, Fine Gael is undertaking a number of initiatives at national level".
Deputy Coveney is writing to the chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications and Energy, MJ Nolan TD, requesting him to schedule urgent meetings of the Committee to examine the recent study on 'underground vs overground' from the German consultants ASKON Group. Read more. |
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Councillors to fight Minister for small builders policy |
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 CONTROVERSIAL plans by county councillors allowing local builders to construct two houses per year remain under question by Environment Minister, John Gormley. At Monday's meeting of the County Council in Lifford the County Manager confirmed that he had received a letter from the Minister and outlined his plans to reply.
The letter from the Minster sent earlier this month sought clarification on the criteria for builders; how the register of approved builders was to be compiled; what legal advice the council received on the matter and what safeguards would be put in place. Read more. |
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Not on our doorstep |
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 FURIOUS residents are vowing to fight plans to build a massive waste transfer and recycling station on their doorsteps on the main Killarney to Farranfore road.
They fear that the facility, which would be be built on a 20-acre site at Scart/Caherdean, would pose a risk to water and air quality in the area as well as generating huge noise and light problems. They also expressed concern that the project could lead to health problems because of the threat of vermin and it could pose a real risk to flora and fauna. Read more. |
| Bare forestry land back about €500/acre |
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 Similar to agricultural land, bare forestry-type land has taken a hit in some parts of the country. It appears that prices are generally back around €500/acre despite that land of this nature is scarce and demand remains reasonably strong.
Some agents report that the level of activity slowed down about six weeks before the budget as buyers eagerly waited to see if any changes (cuts) would be made to the forestry programme. News of a 6% increase in the forestry budget has seen activity slowly pick up over the past few weeks but the amount of land actually coming on the market is minimal. Read more. |
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€150,000 war on weeds to keep sheep out of the line of fire |
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.jpg) ALMOST €150,000 has been spent by the Department of Defence clearing weeds from an artillery range amid fears sheep could be blown up by Army mortars.
The Irish Independent has learned that the department hired a company to spray weed killer from a helicopter on to the Defence Forces range in the Glen of Imaal, Co Wicklow.
Bracken ferns there had spread out of control and were covering almost half of the range, making it difficult to ensure that all livestock had been cleared ahead of artillery exercises. Read more. |
| World Heritage Sites list to be reviewed |
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AN EXPERT advisory group has been set up by Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley to review the current list of potential World Heritage Sites in Ireland, known as the Tentative List (of potential nominees as World Heritage Sites).
They are to submit a new Tentative List to him by spring of next year. The existing Tentative List of proposed sites dates back to 1992.
At present Ireland has two World Heritage Sites inscribed on the prestigious World Heritage List. Brú Na Bóinne in Co Meath was inscribed in 1993 and Skellig Michael, Co Kerry in 1996. Read more. |
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Time-wasting archaeologists slammed by local councillor |
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 A BALLINROBE councillor has come out in protest about the time being wasted on major developments in South Mayo, as archaeologists spend months and years on end working with "small spoons". Addressing a meeting in Ballinrobe, Fianna Fáil councillor Damien Ryan remarked that he hoped the downturn in the economy would mean that there will be less archaeologists around to hold up these projects.
"The archaeologists are adding huge cost and delay to developments that would be done long ago if it weren't for them. It's damn-well frustrating" he blasted. Read more. |
| Wilson's shock U-turn over Tyrone geological site |
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 Environment Minister Sammy Wilson has made a shock U-turn over the protection of a geological site of national importance in Co Tyrone. The minister has instructed his department to re-declare Lisnaragh, near Donemana, an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) weeks after he cancelled a bid to designate it. Friends of the Earth claimed it as a victory after having threatened legal action over the cancellation, arguing the minister was biased against declaring ASSIs where they could restrict commercial activity. Their argument was based on comments he made in a recent Belfast Telegraph interview. Read more. |
| Countryside applications to be reviewed as NI rules relaxed |
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 New houses will still only be allowed in the countryside in exceptional circumstances, despite a loosening of strict regulations. Details of draft planning policy PPS21, intended to replace the controversial PPS14, were released by the Department of the Environment yesterday. PPS14 effectively stopped the building of new single homes in rural areas, although the policy was later deemed unlawful because it was introduced by the Department of Regional Development, which did not have the power to do so. The new proposals mean it will be easier for farmers and owners of non-agricultural businesses to build a house on their land. Read more. |
| We were right on airport noise levels: residents |
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 Residents in east Belfast have claimed the latest noise report on George Best Belfast City Airport proves what they have been saying - increasing numbers of large aircraft are pushing up the noise levels. The report by Bickerdike Allen Partners says the noise contours measured in the vicinity of the airport over the peak summer period have expanded by up to 34% since last summer - and it puts the change down to the increase in large aircraft using the airport. Read more. |
| UK drops plan to introduce new air travel tax |
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 The British government has abandoned a plan to replace the UK's air passenger duty with a new per-plane environmental tax, finance minister Alistair Darling said on Monday as he presented a draft budget to parliament.
Instead the government will reform the existing tax, introducing from November 2009 a four-band system based on distance travelled. It wants to avoid "the disruption and costs associated with the transition to a new tax.. at a time of economic uncertainty", according to the draft budget. Rates will increase significantly from 2010. Read more. |
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Joint work urged on siting wind projects |
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 Planning authorities may benefit from joint working in preparing supplementary guidance on wind farm siting, the Scottish Government advised last week.
Planning Advice Note (PAN) 45 suggests partnership arrangements "where issues such as cumulative impact, designated areas and recreational value cross administrative boundaries".
It advises that the first step should be to assess existing policies and acknowledges that in some cases only minor updates may be required. However, new guidance must take into account the Scottish Government's latest target of generating 50 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Read more. |
| Nature sites boost feted |
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 The National Audit Office (NAO) has praised plans to improve England's sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) but issued a warning on assessment techniques.
An NAO report says Natural England is well on the way to meeting a government target to ensure that 95 per cent of all English SSSIs are in a healthy or improving condition by 2010. By March this year 83 per cent of SSSI land area - some 889,000ha - was in target condition. Read more. |
| Police have no Public Order Act powers to control Critical Mass cycle ride, Law |
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 The House of Lords allowed an appeal by cyclist Des Kay against a Court of Appeal ruling that the Metropolitan Police had the right to demand prior notice of the ride's date, time and route and the names and addresses of the organisers.
Cyclists who gather on the South Bank and ride through the city to celebrate safe cycling have in the past been handed written notices by the police stating that the event was unlawful because no advance notice was given. But the Law Lords held that the event, which had no organisers or set route and proceeded on a "follow my leader" basis, was not governed by section 11 of the Public Order Act 1986. Read more. |
| EU condemned on tuna 'mockery' |
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 Countries involved in the Mediterranean bluefin tuna trade have voted to maintain catches nearly 50% above what scientists say are "safe" levels. Environment groups labelled the move, by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (Iccat), as a "mockery of science". They put most blame on the EU which, they said, used trade issues to bully smaller nations into giving support. Earlier this year Spain and Japan had called for a suspension of the fishery. Iccat's scientists had said next year's total allowable catch (Tac) should not exceed 15,000 tonnes; but on the final day of its annual meeting, Iccat members set a figure of 22,000 tonnes. They also rejected the scientists' call for a closure of the fishery in the spawning months of May and June. Read more. |
| Insecticide! (An ecological disaster that will affect us all) |
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 While the plight of mammals and birds commands the world's attention, insects are quietly but rapidly disappearing. Michael McCarthy explains why their loss is bad news for the planet.
It is a realisation that may be dawning at last: the importance of the little things that rule the world. The great American biologist, E O Wilson, said insects were world-rulers, but although they play a central role in maintaining ecosystems and the whole web of life, most insects have long been viewed with distaste or even revulsion as creepie-crawlies (apart from butterflies, which have been viewed as something akin to honorary mini-birds). Read more. |
| Man-made pollution is raising ocean acidity at least 10 times faster than previously thought, a study says |
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 Researchers say carbon dioxide levels are having a marked effect on the health of shellfish such as mussels. They sampled coastal waters off the north-west Pacific coast of the US every half-hour for eight years. The results, published in the journal PNAS, suggest that earlier climate change models may have underestimated the rate of ocean acidification. Read more. |
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Proposed Carrizo Plain solar plant could hurt environment, report says |
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 A proposed thermal solar farm in the northern Carrizo Plain could significantly affect the environment of the area in six ways, including reducing wildlife habitat and causing traffic congestion.
The California Energy Commission this week issued its draft assessment of the Carrizo Solar Energy Farm. The report identifies two areas where the plant would impact the environment and four other areas where the impact has not been determined and more information is needed. Ausra Energy of Oakland has applied to build a 177-megawatt solar plant on 640 acres adjacent to Highway 58. It is the first of three solar plants proposed for the eastern part of the county. Read more. | |
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