IPAS speculation continues in Wexford as council says it can't assess wastewater capacity of potential sites
Wexford People
With speculation continuing to mount that at least one new International Protection Accommodation Scheme (IPAS) centre is to be opened in the Wexford village of Killnick, the local council has said it can't assess the environmental impact of potentially 100 residents until they actually move in.
Applications to turn both The Danby Lodge and The Moyglare Lodge into IPAS centres have already been submitted and there remains a degree of uncertainty regarding the purpose of ongoing works at Cooper's Inn. While the future use of Cooper's has yet to be confirmed, Councillor Frank Staples has asked that an environmental report be carried out at the premises to assess its wastewater capacity.
However, at the May meeting of the Rosslare Municipal District (RMD) he was informed that such an assessment would be pointless until the building is back in use.
'Our inspector is going to have a look at it but because there's no actual incident (to investigate) I'm not sure if she's going to have very much to do,' said environmental engineer Rory O'Mahony. 'The inspector has said that because there isn't a failure issue there and because the premises isn't occupied, there's not an incident she can deal with.'
Cllr Staples then confirmed that a planning application would be forthcoming from Cooper's Inn, to which Mr O'Mahony replied, 'It will have to go through the planning process first then.'
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