Golf club members demand answers after discovering bill to clear illegal asbestos dump could exceed €1m

Horrified golf club members have demanded explanations from management after learning the cost of cleaning up an illegal asbestos dump could top €1m.

Kilkenny Golf Club has been served with an enforcement order requiring removal of the

waste which came from a house and sheds it demolished without permission.

The club must now hire experts in asbestos removal and, before the end of June, produce a plan detailing how the work will be carried out.

It comes after a year of upheaval at the club following revelations that it knocked down a house and outbuildings on its land without planning permission to create extra parking spaces.

Almost 2,400 tonnes of rubble with lethal asbestos roofing mixed through it was then buried in an adjacent field owned by the club but leased for farming.

A whistleblower reported the activities to Kilkenny County Council which forced the club to apply for retention permission for the demolition works and for use of the land for waste disposal

The case ended up under appeal to An Bord Pleanála and the demolition works were eventually retrospectively approved but the waste site was refused permission.

Leaving it in place as the club had wanted would be “injurious to public health”, planners said.

Asbestos is banned for use since 2004 as its fibres, inhaled in even tiny quantities, frequently cause cancer, asbestosis and other fatal lung diseases.

The club’s management committee accepted An Bord Pleanála’s decision but has never disclosed details of who sanctioned and arranged for the demolition works and dumping of the rubble, who carried out the work, and who decided to bypass the permitting procedures.

A planning consultant’s report submitted by the club as part of its retention application stated there were no records of what happened.

“The current committee of management have concluded that no further information will be forthcoming from the contractor or past committee members or staff in relation to this issue,” the report stated.

Club members have grown impatient with the lack of information, however.

Provisional inquiries into the cost of cleaning up the dump site returned warnings that it could be upwards of €750,000 and possibly as high as €1.8m.

Members who spoke on condition of anonymity said they had been given no idea how the cost would be met. They currently pay €1,000 annual membership and a €4,000 development fee which is payable over 10 years, and fear they will be expected to foot the bill.

They said the club’s reputation was suffering and tensions were affecting the atmosphere.

Most just wanted to play golf socially and leave the management of the club to the elected officers, but they could not ignore what had been going on any longer.

A petition signed by 50 members seeking the holding of an extraordinary general meeting was submitted to the management committee in recent days.

It says the signatories want full ­disclosure of all details relating to the controversy, going back to the club’s 2015 purchase of the house, known as Kehoe’s Cottage, which was subsequently demolished.

Current honorary secretary at the club, Padraig Keegan, confirmed in a statement that a request had been received to hold a special general meeting.

“However, to date, the club has not received the required petition outlining the business to be brought forward to the SGM with the required 50 signatures,” it said.

Members dispute this, saying more than 50 signatures were supplied but that the committee had rejected them for being submitted in two lots rather than in one document at the same time.

The statement also acknowledged that the Southern Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authority (WERLA) – which is handling the case on behalf of Kilkenny County Council – had been in contact.

“As per schedule of measures outlined by WERLA, Kilkenny Golf Club (KGC) will appoint a suitably qualified professional to assist KGC in preparing a remedial plan,” it said.

“KGC will submit a remedial plan to WERLA within 60 days from date of notice.”

The statement said the club was contacted on April 16 but WERLA says it served notice on April 11, meaning 60 days would end on June 10.

The statement said answers to questions about the clean-up and how it would be funded “are subject to the completion of this plan”.

Kilkenny County Council asked ­WERLA to stipulate that the enforcement order require the plan to “remedy the effects of the reception, acceptance, holding, recovering, disposing and removal of waste” and provide dates for completion of the work.

Costs for cleaning up asbestos can vary hugely, with one industry source saying the cheapest way was to use a trained team to hand-pick the pieces of asbestos out of the rubble for specialist disposal. Otherwise, all the rubble must be treated as asbestos waste, dug out of the ground, containered and shipped abroad.

The cost of this option could exceed €750,000. As the asbestos sheets are broken up in the rubble with the lethal fibres mixed through it and the surrounding soils, this is feared to be the only option.

The club’s finances are in a healthy condition but costs of this scale would exceed its cash reserves.

WERLA said failure to comply with its order could be considered an offence under Section 10 of the Waste Management Acts 1996.

A conviction under Section 10 comes with penalties ranging from a fine of up to €1,500 and a prison sentence of up to 12 months if dealt with in the District Court and a fine of up to €10m and a jail term of up to 10 years in the higher courts. Golf Ireland, the sport’s governing body, said it was aware of the issues at Kilkenny Golf Club but had not been formally contacted about them and had not intervened.

“Under our Articles of Association, responsibility for internal club matters, such as property issues and how they are managed, rests with the club,” communications manager Daragh Small said.

“We would always encourage a club to work through their internal governance processes and in line with their constitution and regulations.

“We are also aware of reports that some members are seeking to call an extraordinary general meeting.

“That is also a matter for the club. Golf Ireland does not typically attend or involve itself in club EGMs.”

He added, however: “Golf Ireland continues to be available to offer guidance to affiliated clubs on matters that fall within our remit, including governance and administration.”

Members who spoke to the Irish Independent expressed frustration that no official agency seemed able or willing to get information from the club about who was responsible for the difficulties it now faced.

Work on the parking spaces that Kehoe’s Cottage was demolished to make way for is now scheduled to begin next week. The club also has hopes of developing new practice areas with a €110,000 grant of public money from the Community Sports Facilities Fund awarded last year.

However, it is awaiting a decision from Kilkenny County Council as to whether the project can be considered exempted development or whether it will have to apply for planning permission.