December 11, 2007

Alltech expansion plans obstructed by quarry site
 

Alltech said it might scrap the plan to build a science park at its European headquarters in Dunboyne due to the construction of a quarry site four miles away.

The company had planned to build a science park, which would include up to 20 research centres.

Aidan Connolly, the company's vice president for Europe, said this plan was under threat because Meath county council had granted permission to Kilsaran Concrete for a quarry.

Connolly asserted that the biotech firm needs clean rooms due to a fair amount of research at Dunboyne involving different types of bacteria and yeast. Dust and dirt from lorries would compromise the ability to do that work, he added.

Under the plans, Alltech would create 150 new jobs at its plant aimed to attract a range of research companies that would create up to 850 jobs.

Connolly elaborated that the proposed quarry would make this project impossible because the main access road to it passed by Alltech's facility and the resulting lorry traffic would damage the surrounding environment.

Alltech plans to move the development to Eastern Europe if appeals against the quarry permission were unsuccessful.