No directives on solar energy farms as applications soar in Cork and Kerry

No specific guidelines are available for solar energy farms in Irish planning but applications are being lodged in an abundance along Kerry, Cork and the west coast.

British planning directives are reportedly being used as guidance for solar energy farms where cells stretch across the landscape.

However, a Kerry County Council meeting yesterday rejected putting a stay on future planning applications for solar farms. Six solar energy applications came before the council in the past 12 months, councillors were told. They range from a 5MW solar farm on 30 acres at Astee in north Kerry to a 20-acre farm at Madam’s Hill, near Killarney.