A COMMUNITY group opposing plans for 14 wind turbines near Bantry bay say they are ‘outraged’ at Cork County Council’s response to their campaign.
A full meeting of the local authority on Tuesday heard a motion put forward by Cllr Liam Madden asking that the outdated 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines be reviewed.
Cllr Madden asked ‘that Cork County Council request the Minister to update the regulations for wind farms immediately, before any further planning applications are accepted or
approved’.
Enerco Energy is expected to lodge plans with An Comisuin Pleanala shortly for a wind farm with turbines 169m high along the Maughanaclea Hills and the rural lands of Kealkill, Coomclogh, Cousane and the Mealagh Valley.
The council’s response was that all valid planning applications are assessed on their merits in the context of the land use zoning policies, objectives and guidance of the Cork County Development Plan 2022-2028.
Spokesperson for Stop the Spin, the group opposing the Enerco plan, Noelle Aller Ontalba, said: ‘The response today of Cork County Council is deeply disappointing to concerned communities across Cork. Large-scale wind turbines are still being constructed under outdated 2006 guidelines.
‘These outdated guidelines fail to account for the massive increase in turbine size, noise output, shadow flicker and landscape dominance that have occurred over the past 20 years.’
Enerco Energy’s community liaison officer for the Maughanaclea project Padraig Quille last week told The Southern Star the company had carried out door-to-door consultations and held a public meeting, and intended to hold another public meeting before the application is lodged.
