Dairy Day: water quality poses planning challenges in southeast

Water quality has become a major determinant in the planning permission process, according to Bertie Troy of Grasstec.

Speaking at the ‘building low-cost facilities in a high-cost era’ talk at Dairy Day 2025, he said in most parts of the country, planning is easy to get, but the southeast of the country is an area where there are challenges.

He said: “It’s down to water quality in the rivers and a lot of that is down to the soil type in that area. In 50% to 70% of the applications, there’s more questions being asked in that region.”

This results in a visit from the environmental officer from the relevant local authority visiting the farm and their concern is more with the existing yard than the proposed new structure.

“The big focus for them is how dirty and clean water is being managed in the yard. In the past, their focus was on the new building, but they’re not overly worried with the new shed now and there is a huge focus on the old yards.”

Rainwater

He also said that rainwater was the silent killer on slurry capacity on a lot of farms.

“Slurry capacity eaten up by rainwater. A low-cost option to improve slurry storage is, look at yards, see where chutes are broken and fix them. It’s a smaller investment that could solve a lot of your issues.”

Construction

Cork-based builder John Mulcahy said: "There has been a small drop-off in dairy construction over the last year or so with planning an issue in cases."

He added that there are less greenfield builds anymore. For farmers who are adding slurry storage in an existing yard, he suggested an outdoor tank with a pump and channels works best and makes it easier when it comes to spreading slurry, as there the work becomes focused on one point.