Ruling raises hopes of end to building ban

Date Published: 17-Jun-2008

CITY centre developers who have been stopped in their tracks by safety regulations at Galway Docks have been given fresh hope by a Planning Appeals Board decision.

The Board have overturned a City Council planning decision which refused permission for a Bus Éireann maintenance facility at the Galway Harbour Enterprise Park on the grounds of new Health and Safety Authority guidelines.

The ‘Seveso II Directive’ aims to prevent major accidents involving dangerous substances and limit consequences to people and the environment effectively it placed a freeze on all development within 400 metres of the oil tanks at the Docks.

Last year, permission was refused for the Bus Éireann development because of its proximity to EnWest (Cold Chon) storage tanks, and earlier this year, developer Gerry Barrett was refused permission to redevelop the derelict Taaffe’s shop on William Street because of the directive.

Bus Éireann subsequently appealed that decision, and according to An Bord Pleanála: “The applicant’s consultants have carried out a Quantitative Risk Assessment on a typical fuel storage design to current best practice and the risk of a loss of contaminant has been determined to be significantly less than the acceptable risk level for such an event and subsequent vapour cloud
explosion.

“Thus, no objection should be raised on the grounds that the risk presented is unacceptable.
It is contended that a vapour cloud explosion similar to the Buncefield incident is possible, but would not be considered credible,” Bus Éireann argued.

In his assessment of the application, the Board’s Senior Planning Inspector Kevin Moore said…