Both sides remain at odds over power line

The company proposing to put a high-voltage electricity line through a 40km stretch of West Cork, and objectors to the development, dug in their heels at a planning hearing, yesterday.

Final submissions were made by Eirgrid, which provides electricity transmission services, and the Community Before Pylons group, on day four of the Bord Pleanála hearing, in Macroom.

The controversial line is to run from Clashavoon, 10km north-east of Macroom, to Dunmanway and will back up two 100KV lines so as to provide a secure supply to the region, according to Eirgrid.

However, Community Before Pylons chairman, James Kiernan, said his group and the large number of objecting individuals “cannot all be wrong”.

He said their common theme was that the €20m development was not needed, wanted, or desired.

“It is us who, as members of the affected communities, will be those who have to live with the consequences of this decision. It is our opinion which should be the over-riding consideration in this process.

“We contend that the estimations and assumptions used to justify the need for security of supply to south-west Cork are outdated and no longer relevant. This line will be a costly and redundant back-up to a back-up.”

Barrister Fintan Valentine, for Eirgrid, said the main aims of the development were to ensure a secure electricity supply and accommodate renewable energies, including wind farms, coming on stream.

Objectors had claimed the development would irreversibly damage the rural landscape, but Mr Valentine insisted a “good and viable route” had been chosen for the line.

He also said adverse impacts on sensitive areas had been minimised through avoidance measures. While Eirgrid could not accommodate the views of all landowners, he felt they had got the balance right and the development would be consistent with proper planning.

Mr Valentine rejected claims that sufficient consultation had not taken place with landowners, saying the consultation process had been “robust and thorough”.

Teddy McCarthy, who farms 100 acres at Knockahaduve, Dunmanway, raised fears that excavating machinery travelling from farm to farm, during construction of the line, would spread tuberculosis among cattle herds.

“Every fibre of my being is telling me to complain about this development right now. I respect that these people must do a job, but I severely doubt they looked at the potential damage they were doing to someone like me.”