Locals facing eviction after losing windfarm appeal

A farmer faces the possibility this week of losing his 100-acre dairy holding after challenging the grant of planning for the construction, against his wishes, of a road across his land by a wind power company.

And a neighbouring craft worker also risks being forced into selling her home, or face bankruptcy, after a High Court challenge over a claim An Bord Pleanála had acted outside its powers failed.

Edward ‘Ned’ Buckley, who farms at Gortnara, Upperchurch in south Tipperary, had agreed to a single turbine being erected on adjacent land as part of an overall €30m development of 22 wind turbines by Kilkenny–based Ecopower Developments Ltd.