Landowners claim energy firm not honouring deal

Protesting landowners in west Waterford have claimed an energy company is not honouring “previously-agreed conditions” over a planned wind farm.

Nine landowners in Ballyduff, who staged a protest last week, claim that under a 2003 agreement with a company called Barranafaddock Sustainable Electricity, they were entitled to €1,000 per annum from the year of planning permission in 2005 to the time of construction next June.

The money effectively represents compensation for missing out on an €18,000 per annum rent windfall which will be paid to six owners on whose land the 11 planned turbines will be erected.