Hundreds sign petition objecting to Bay Road coal screening permit

The local fuel company applied to Derry City and Strabane District Council in January asking for permission to load, screen and mix coal at its depot near the entrance to the Bay Road nature reserve in the city.

The application under the the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 has been accompanied by a lengthy supporting document outlining how the company proposes minimising atmospheric emissions.

However, a number of groups including the SDLP have been campaigning against the development.

Residents of the lower Strand Road and lower Culmore Road have been targeted with leaflet drops. The SDLP Youth Derry Branch organised a petition on change.org which was signed by over 600 people.

The petition, initiated by SDLP activist Karl Duncan, objects to the new development on the grounds that it’s located next to a popular green space, because they believe it could increase air pollution, and because it involves the processing of fossil fuels.

“It would be hypocritical of us to sit and do nothing to stop this when we as a society are facing a climate emergency and have made commitments to move away from coal as an energy and heating source,” the petition states.

People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin, SDLP Councillor Mary Durkan and Independent Councillors Gary Donnelly and Sean Carr took part in protest outside the depot earlier this week.

Colr. Harkin stated: “Following a successful motion by People Before Profit, Derry City and Strabane District council has already agreed to take action to address the environmental disaster and climate emergency our world is facing. This motion committed the council to move Derry and Strabane away entirely from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources. If council is to stay true to that pledge and its declaration of a climate emergency, this application must be rejected.”

Sinn Féin Councillor Mickey Cooper said his party was opposed to the application.

“Normally this type of licence application would not come before councillors, but due to the concerns of residents we made sure it will now come before Derry & Strabane Council’s Health and Communities Committee on September 6,” he said.

Derry’s Pink Ladies are also opposed. Jacquie Loughrey, an education officer with the group, said: “We have many members who use this walkway as part of the Macmillan Move More initiative, a healthy living and return to work scheme backed by DCSDC.

She claimed the establishment of a coal-processing operation on the site would not be “consistent with the council’s health, climate and environmental policies.”

The public consultation on the permit application ended on Tuesday.

The ‘Journal’ contacted A&N Fuels NI Ltd. to ask for the company’s response to the concerns raised by those opposed to the application, but no response was received.

In a document submitted with the application A&N Fuels Limited’s Environment and Quality Manager advises that strict control measures will be put in place to prevent air pollution at the yard.

These will include using water sprayers to dampen coal and prevent dust in dry weather and covering stockpiled coal with tarpaulin.

“The only minor atmospheric emissions that are foreseen by A&N Fuels at 5 Bay road will be a minor amount of particulate matter from the stockpile of coal we aim to hold at this site.

“We believe that the impact on the environment will be very minimal due to our control measuress.

“A&N Fuels have undertaken an assessment to indicate whether there are any areas of special scientific interest (ASSIs) in the locality of 5 Bay Road,” the company states in its submission.