Glanbia has met with disappointment the unanimous decision of An Taisce’s board to seek leave to appeal the High Court ruling upholding An Bord Pleanála’s granting of permission for the co-operative’s plans for Belview.

Glanbia reaffirmed its intention to continue with its plans to construct the cheese manufacturing plant in Belview, Co Kilkenny, as the environmental body announced its intention to seek leave to appeal to Supreme Court on Monday.

“Glanbia Ireland notes with disappointment confirmation that An Taisce have applied to the Supreme Court for leave to appeal the decision of the High Court upholding An Bord Pleanála’s grant of planning permission for a cheese processing facility,” the processor has commented.

Fourth appeal

Should An Taisce’s request to the courts be granted, the body will commence its fourth appeal of the Belview plans.

Kilkenny County Council granted the original planning permission to Glanbia for its plans for the Belview plant in November 2019, with An Bord Pleanála giving the co-op the green light in June 2020.

This would be bad for farmers, bad for rural communities and could hurt Ireland’s reputation internationally

“The combined impact of An Taisce’s four consecutive challenges to this project has been a two-year delay, and this latest proposed appeal could delay the project even further,” said the chair of Glanbia Ireland John Murphy.

“This would be bad for farmers, bad for rural communities and could hurt Ireland’s reputation internationally as a location for much-needed foreign direct investment,” Murphy added.

Remaining committed

Glanbia has said that the plans for Belview are critical to the farming families supplying the co-op with milk.

This project, which is line with Government policy, is critical to our market diversification post-Brexit

The works will also be important in improving rural Ireland’s resilience to the economic challenges posed by Brexit and COVID-19, the dairy group added.

“We are committed to bringing this project to fruition in conjunction with our partners, Royal A-ware,” stated the chief executive of Glanbia Ireland Jim Bergin.

“This project, which is line with Government policy, is critical to our market diversification post-Brexit, will support rural Ireland’s post-COVID-19 recovery and is of huge importance to the 4,500 farm families supplying milk to Glanbia Ireland,” Bergin finished.