Grenagh and Watergrasshill mounted intense and prolonged opposition to having it in their backyards. The Bottlehill site was primarily chosen because it was just 3.6km east of the N20 (main Cork-Limerick road), although it did not go unnoticed at the time that its population was much smaller than the other two sites. 

Despite the actions of the Bottlehill Environment Alliance, it was not able to mount the same level of vociferous opposition.

The 48.5-hectare Bottlehill facility was developed by Cork County Council over a five-year period and completed in 2009. However, the opening was stalled and two years later the then council’s manager shocked local public representatives when he said opening it had become commercially unviable.

Waste landscape changed

Then county manager Martin Riordan said the waste landscape had changed considerably since the local authority planned to build it. In the interim, the government had set out new criteria to divert waste away from landfills, primarily through recycling and incineration.

There was also severe competition from landfills in other counties. At the time, Mr Riordan said to make Bottlehill financially viable it would have to take in a minimum of 150,000 tonnes of waste per year.

Cork County Council would have to charge a minimum entry fee per vehicle of €50, he said, whereas other landfills were charging on average of €20-€30 per visit.

Mr Riordan said the local authority could sell off or lease the site but admitted there was unlikely to be much demand from the private sector.

He recommended mothballing its opening for between three to five years, by which time it might be viable to open, and councillors agreed.

In June 2016, it finally seemed as if the site would be partially opened. The council’s ‘Environment Directorate’ recommended  a section of it be leased to a company specialising in solar and wind power.

What made the headlines though was another part of the reopening — allowing Invader to bury ash there from its proposed incinerator in Ringaskiddy.

At the time, councillors were informed that should Indaver get planning permission for its proposed incinerator, it would be allowed to bury around 40,000 tonnes of residual ash a year at the site. Indaver failed to receive planning and it is unclear if it will continue to pursue the project.

Health and recreation centre

Then last year, a group known as the Nagle Natural Heritage & Health Promotion Group (NNHPG) sent a submission to the county council seeking the site, which is surrounded by forestry, be used as a "health and recreation centre", which would feature health shops, riding stables, a farrier service, conference building, restaurant, gymnasium and children’s playground.

The group maintained Coillte should convert the Nagle Mountain area adjacent to the super dump for recreational use similar to what it had done to some forestry in the Dublin Mountains.

NNHPG maintained the Bottlehill site was ideal for cycling/walking/ hiking/ and orienteering tours and could have a dedicated track for dog-walkers. 

These tracks could be joined to loops that would connect to the villages of Burnfort, Killavullen, Glenville, Carrignavar and the towns of Blarney, Fermoy and Mallow — providing a spin-off for their economies.

NNHPG pointed out the general area was rich in biodiversity, including the several different species of birds of prey, badgers, the freshwater oearl mussel, sea lamprey, brook lamprey, river lamprey, shad, Atlantic salmon, the European otter and white-clawed crayfish.

NNHPG secretary Kevin Creedon, an original member of Bottlehill Environment Alliance, said people living in the area “aren’t anti-everything” and realised climate change needed addressing.

However, he said the Bottlehill site had become a mecca for hundreds and thousands of people during Covid-19, who came, from Cork City in particular, to walk around the area.

The county council rejected the group’s nature plans on the grounds it owned the site and was not going to change its usage designation.

Wind turbine proposal

“We would be reasonable people out here,” Mr Creedon said. “It’s not a no to everything and we realise green energy is needed,” he added in relation to the wind turbine proposal now before An Bord Pleanála.

However, there have been a large number of objections to that plan from the local community, mainly due to the height and the close proximity of some of the turbines to houses.

Mr Creedon said the community was still awaiting new government guidelines on these issues. “They [the turbines] need to be properly set back from houses,” he said.

Several county councillors have suggested the site now be used for the recycling of C&D (construction and demolition) waste which could be used as core filling for roads. 

At present, there are no such facilities in Cork. The nearest is in Waterford and councillors say the commute there by a large number of HGVs is adding to carbon footprint and makes no sense.

Mr Creedon said locals had yet to be consulted on this proposal. There would be concerns about noise pollution from this, especially the impact it might have on bird species, such as the hen harrier.

Mr Creedon is also a member of the local dump monitoring committee, which was set up to oversee the implementation of waste disposal at the dump many years ago. Needless to say, they have not had much to do as the site is still idle. However, they are part of a statutory body which must be consulted.

“There has been no communication from Cork County Council to the monitoring committee for a number of years now. Proper consultation would be needed if they intend to start recycling C&D material on the site. 

"We also have concerns about an aquifer which runs through the site and supplied drinking water to local wells. In addition, there could be run-off from the hills around the site through it and into the River Bride, which is classified as an SAC [Special Area of Conservation],” Mr Creedon said.

Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden, the county councillor who lives nearest to Bottlehill, said it was of huge concern to the local community what happens next.

“The immediate concern here is a wind turbine application which is currently awaiting a decision from An Board Pleanála,” Mr Madden said.

He maintains the community is not against the concept of green energy, but locals are concerned about what they claim was a lack of proper public consultation on the project.

“The idea of turning the area into an amenity park would be of huge benefit to many communities in the region. Another project mentioned is bringing concrete waste from building sites for recycling. This would have to involve huge consultation with communities before any such proposal goes ahead,” Mr Madden said.