Bord na Móna seeks to continue peat extraction on Offaly bogs

Bord na Móna has applied to An Bord Pleanála for a form of consent that would regularise its historic peat extraction activities at several bogs in Offaly and Westmeath, as well as at locations in Laois, Meath, Longford and Kildare.

The applications lodged in the last week for the Boora, Blackwater and Allen group of bogs comes after An Bord Pleanála recently granted Bord na Móna permission to apply for what is termed 'substitute consent'

The move to seek permission to apply for substitute consent was instigated by Bord na Móna after questions arose over the status of peat harvesting activities from September 20 2012, and over whether environmental impact assessments and appropriate assessments should have been carried out on the potential impact of such activities.

While the Bord Pleanála decisions to grant approval to Bord na Móna to allow it to apply for substitute consent were made at the beginning of May, they have only recently been published on the Bord Pleanála website. In the meantime, Bord na Móna has moved swiftly to apply for the substitute consent, lodging planning applications on June 2 for three groups of bogs

Bord na Móna, of Main Street, Newbridge, County Kildare, made three separate applications to An Bord Pleanála regarding bogs in Offaly.

The three applications relate to: * The Blackwater Bog group *The Boora Bog group *The Allen Bog group . Offaly also featured in one other application – that relating to the Derrygreenagh Bog Group