House near concrete plant - how close is too close?

Toots

Hoping to get a few peoples' take on this.

One of my cousins is looking to buy a house, and last weekend I gave her a lift to a viewing while her car was out of action. I went in to the house with her to have a look, and it's absolutely gorgeous, has everything she could want - 2 reception rooms, gorgeous kitchen, massive bedrooms and the bathrooms were all like something out of a magazine. The garden was also fantastic, gorgeous patio and BBQ area, huge lawn and lovely mature trees, so it's nice and private. It was the sort of house that you could move in in the morning, and there'd be literally no work needing done. It seemed perfect, and she had to restrain herself from putting in an offer on the spot.

But... on the way home, we accidentally took a wrong turn and when I took out my phone to look at google maps, I noticed that there was a concrete plant really close by. We were still only a few minutes drive away from the house, so I wondered just how close the plant would be to the house. We hadn't heard any noise or anything, when we were out in the garden, but it was a saturday, so the plant may not have been open. When we put the address of the house and the address of the plant into google maps, it was about a 3km drive away, however, as the crow flies, it's about 500m to the boundary of the plant. The plant itself is enormous, we couldn't believe the size of it looking at the satellite view on Google maps. It covers at least a square kilometre, if not more.

My cousin isn't concerned about this at all, and still seems hell bent on putting in an offer. Her husband isn't as keen (he hasn't seen inside the house yet) and seems to have the same concerns that I expressed about living so close to such a massive concrete plant. I'd be very wary of airborne pollution, like what sort of dust would be coming from a plant of that size? Also would there be an issue with excessive noise from machinery etc? Both of them are moving from Dublin city to a more rural setting, so they aren't overly familiar with the area and whether or not something like this would even be an issue if you didn't live right next door to it. The actual entrance to the concrete plant is just over 3km away, by road, and from what we can see, trucks etc wouldn't be going past the front of the house.

Is 500m too close, or would that be sufficient distance that the plant wouldn't cause bother?

Graces7

Toots wrote: »

Hoping to get a few peoples' take on this.

One of my cousins is looking to buy a house, and last weekend I gave her a lift to a viewing while her car was out of action. I went in to the house with her to have a look, and it's absolutely gorgeous, has everything she could want - 2 reception rooms, gorgeous kitchen, massive bedrooms and the bathrooms were all like something out of a magazine. The garden was also fantastic, gorgeous patio and BBQ area, huge lawn and lovely mature trees, so it's nice and private. It was the sort of house that you could move in in the morning, and there'd be literally no work needing done. It seemed perfect, and she had to restrain herself from putting in an offer on the spot.

But... on the way home, we accidentally took a wrong turn and when I took out my phone to look at google maps, I noticed that there was a concrete plant really close by. We were still only a few minutes drive away from the house, so I wondered just how close the plant would be to the house. We hadn't heard any noise or anything, when we were out in the garden, but it was a saturday, so the plant may not have been open. When we put the address of the house and the address of the plant into google maps, it was about a 3km drive away, however, as the crow flies, it's about 500m to the boundary of the plant. The plant itself is enormous, we couldn't believe the size of it looking at the satellite view on Google maps. It covers at least a square kilometre, if not more.

My cousin isn't concerned about this at all, and still seems hell bent on putting in an offer. Her husband isn't as keen (he hasn't seen inside the house yet) and seems to have the same concerns that I expressed about living so close to such a massive concrete plant. I'd be very wary of airborne pollution, like what sort of dust would be coming from a plant of that size? Also would there be an issue with excessive noise from machinery etc? Both of them are moving from Dublin city to a more rural setting, so they aren't overly familiar with the area and whether or not something like this would even be an issue if you didn't live right next door to it. The actual entrance to the concrete plant is just over 3km away, by road, and from what we can see, trucks etc wouldn't be going past the front of the house.

Is 500m too close, or would that b e sufficient distance that the plant wouldn't cause bother?

Can you revisit in working hours? I would have alarm bells ringing too. ask around in the locality too? I potter on daft ie and several times you see a lovely house but the map shows a huge factory complex too near.

quietsailor

There is a long thread in the Limrick forum about the cement plant. One of the issues is dust being blown out and covering cars (so I presume covering houses as well) - here is the link

If your cousin has the choice to buy further away it would be a better idea. The only saving grace for the house might be if it is upwind of the plant for the prevailing wind in that area, that way dust won't blow down to the house

banie01

quietsailor wrote: »

There is a long thread in the Limrick forum about the cement plant. One of the issues is dust being blown out and covering cars (so I presume covering houses as well) - here is the link

If your cousin has the choice to buy further away it would be a better idea. The only saving grace for the house might be if it is upwind of the plant for the prevailing wind in that area, that way dust won't blow down to the house

The dust issue in Limerick was an issue with a system failing in the flue of the plant IIRC.

There is no ongoing or continued issue with it, it happened twice and led to significant gritty dust downwind of the plant but there have been no other releases.

Phileas Frog

Sli na Manach perchance?

Toots

Phileas Frog wrote: »

Sli na Manach perchance?

No, it's not sli na manach. It's in kildare, not part of an estate, just a house on it's own.

babi-hrse

Probably best to ask neibhours.
Are the trees in between the plant and the property. Could be to block noise pollution
Only issue id have is how close to the main rs are you. You don't want concrete trucks barrelling past every 3 minutes.

Hoboo

Do a bit of research of cancer levels around cement factories, Dundalk to Balbriggan area is riddled for the past 20 years, and higher levels the closer you get to Drogheda. Home of Irish Cement.

Toots

babi-hrse wrote: »

Probably best to ask neibhours.
Are the trees in between the plant and the property. Could be to block noise pollution
Only issue id have is how close to the main rs are you. You don't want concrete trucks barrelling past every 3 minutes.

The nearest neighbours are further away than the plant, but I will say to her she needs to have a chat with them.

Yes, the trees are all around the boundary of the property, so they completely block the view of the plant. Even from the upstairs windows we couldn't see the plant through the trees. It's a bit away from the main road, the road outside is a dead end, eventually, so the trucks wouldn't be passing.

Hoboo wrote: »

Do a bit of research of cancer levels around cement factories, Dundalk to Balbriggan area is riddled for the past 20 years, and higher levels the closer you get to Drogheda. Home of Irish Cement.

See that's the sort of thing that I would be concerned about, and her husband said the same thing. I read somewhere recently about an illegal quarry in Kildare and apparently people in quite a wide radius of the quarry were experiencing health issues which were attributed to it. She's got 3 young kids, and while the massive garden would be brilliant for them to run around in, it wouldn't be so great if they were breathing in concrete dust the whole time.

davindub

You should be able to get a copy of the environmental impact assessment from the planning documents if it has been through that process.

It may not give you the working impact but at least you can get an idea of how the activity would impact on the locality.

Graces7

davindub wrote: »

You should be able to get a copy of the environmental impact assessment from the planning documents if it has been through that process.

It may not give you the working impact but at least you can get an idea of how the activity would impact on the locality.

Might EPA have info?

allenview

Would this be in the allen, kilmeague,robertstown area by any chance .

davindub

Graces7 wrote: »

davindub wrote: »

You should be able to get a copy of the environmental impact assessment from the planning documents if it has been through that process.

It may not give you the working impact but at least you can get an idea of how the activity would impact on the locality.

Might EPA have info?

Yes they definitely would have the EIS.

L1011

If its the Tegral plant in Athy, it been there in some form or another for at least 80 years if not longer; there wouldn't have been planning rules of a modern standard let alone an EIS then - only for changes done since and regulatory introductions.

davindub

Tegral submitted an EIS circa 2007, which is great because an EIS is a cumulative statement & not for changes only.

GG66

Some reasons to move to the countryside are peace and quiet and clean air. None of which you'll find living near a cement plant.

Kids are more at risk to toxins in the air and I'd certainly rule out moving there with my kids. A quick google reveals insights into the toxins admitted and impact on those living nearby.

If it was me, I'd write it off immediately.

Toots

allenview wrote: »

Would this be in the allen, kilmeague,robertstown area by any chance .

Yes, I think Robertstown is the nearest town to it.

antiskeptic

GG66 wrote: »

If it was me, I'd write it off immediately.

Me too

Not least because in the back of your mind you'll always be worried and wondering.

As sure as night follows day, at sometime in the future, a report will appear in the newspaper about the latest scientific research indicating the harmful effects of living near concrete plants.

After which you won't be able to give the house away.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to an EPA report and the like. Having worked in industry I've seen how the actuality seldom has anything to do with what's meant to occur.

s7ryf3925pivug

The plant is a controversial topic and there are question marks about their safety record especially with the discharge of dust a couple of years ago and their denial of same. The main issue is with their incinerqtion of tyres and other hazardous waste. If this is done at very high temperatures then it should not be a major polluter. It is strange therefore that there is such an outvry over a questionable thing but it is apparently socially acceptable to burn smokey coal and plastic domestically in parts of Co Limerick. There is no question that this is a major hazard and if you can smell burning plastic then that is toxic air you are breathing. If you can't smell the tyres then that is a much less clear hazard.

s7ryf3925pivug

GG66 wrote: »

Some reasons to move to the countryside are peace and quiet and clean air. None of which you'll find living near a cement plant.

Kids are more at risk to toxins in the air and I'd certainly rule out moving there with my kids. A quick google reveals insights into the toxins admitted and impact on those living nearby.

If it was me, I'd write it off immediately.

It's not the countryside, it's suburbia. The reasons would be more about schools, housing, jobs, access to amenities etc.

Toots

Cash Wooden Smorgasbord wrote: »

It's not the countryside, it's suburbia. The reasons would be more about schools, housing, jobs, access to amenities etc.

The place she's looking at is in the countryside in Kildare, in terms of schools etc it is further away than what they have now, in Dublin, but they want more space and better quality of life.

s7ryf3925pivug

Toots wrote: »

The place she's looking at is in the countryside in Kildare, in terms of schools etc it is further away than what they have now, in Dublin, but they want more space and better quality of life.

oh right, I just assumed it was Mungret in Limerick.