Fianna Fail
Councillors in the Birr/Ferbane Electoral area, Cllr. Eamonn Dooley and Cllr.
Michael Loughnane, Cllr. Sinead Moylan-Ryan and Cllr. Peter Ormond would like
to reiterate their support for the communities of Kilcormac, Kinnity and
Cadamstown areas in their efforts to prevent large-scale wind turbines being
constructed in their respective areas. The councillors would like to
congratulate the committee on organising the petition and carrying out surveys
of the areas concerned. The message is clear from the surveys that was
conducted that the areas of the Slieve Bloom and its hinterland is not suitable
for wind energy development of any size.
In developing our
Wind Energy Strategy back in 2008, we made it quite clear that this area was
not suitable for wind energy development. We have again made it quite
clear in the Draft Development Plan
2014-2020 and we intend to uphold that at the next stage of the Development Plan.
The area is protected
through a number of ecological designations including Special Area of
Conservation, Natural Heritage Area and Special Protection Area. These
considerations make the region unsuitable for wind energy developments as is
stated in the Development Plans.
Yet, we
have companies looking to sign up landowners in this region that is not deemed
suitable for Wind Energy development. This does not set a comforting precedent
for future wind energy developments in the region. There must be a framework by
which such developments must be checked and approved by local and national
governmental bodies before they can proceed. We are calling on the Department
to make compliance with the County Development Plan obligatory before a
planning application can be made to An Bord Planaela.
The people of
these areas have followed the correct process in making submissions to the
County Development Plan and we will continue to work on behalf of the
Communities to protect their areas from such Developments.
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