Opposition to plans for East Cork energy park’

EAST CORK residents have voiced their opposition to plans by Cork County Council to rezone almost 1,000 acres of land around Whitegate for “major, large-scale energy-related development,” turning the area into “Ireland’s energy park”.

In the draft Midleton Local Area Plan, published in November, the council said “the overall strategic aims for Whitegate/Aghada are to promote its role as a location for the storage and processing of strategic energy resources, consolidating its industrial and harbour-related roles.”

It said Whitegate had a “nationally important role in the energy sector, being the location of the country’s only oil refinery and also accommodating three power stations”. It pointed out that there were three areas in that region set aside for industrial development.