Government warned plans to open areas for wind farms will destroy Kerry peatlands
Kerry County Council has said, with 364 turbines, more than any other county, Kerry had “done enough for wind” for the national grid. Pictured is the 38-turbine Grousemount Wind Farm near Kilgarvan in the county. Photo: Neil Michael
The Local Government minister has been warned he risks destroying valuable peatlands in his draft direction to the Kerry County Council to revise its new county development plan to open up more areas of the county for wind farms.
His intervention shows a lack of regard for local communities and local decision-making in Kerry by pursuing national renewable energy targets, submissions on the minister’s draft direction claim.
Earlier this summer, Kerry councillors opted to restrict any further wind turbines to a narrow corridor along the Cork-Kerry border in the county development plan 2022-2028.
With 364 turbines, more than any other county, Kerry had “done enough for wind” for the national grid they said, defying a warning from the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) and rejecting an original map setting out large areas open for consideration for wind turbines.
Communities were scarred and divided and the landscape was destroyed in north and East Kerry, meetings heard.
Last month, following the intervention of the planning regulator, Minister of State for Local Government, Peter Burke, put Kerry County Council on notice of his intention to revise their plan and to permit turbines from Abbeydorney to the outskirts of Tralee, Casteliesland to Cordal, Beaufort to Killorglin and the near outskirts of Killarney.
The direction is to replace “open to consideration” with “permitted in principle” for turbines; the minister also takes issue with the methodology in the new plan’s provision for 1km set back from settlements.
The Kerry County Development Plan 2022-2028 is “ inconsistent” with the policy objectives of the National Planning Framework to promote renewable energy to meet national targets for a low-carbon economy by 2050, the draft ministerial direction states.
A statutory process began and the two-week public submission deadline on the minister’s recommendation closed on Wednesday.
Noting that Kerry contributes 20% of wind energy to the national grid, Scartaglin Wind Awareness said: “There are many counties, much larger than Kerry, that are contributing only a small fraction of the wind energy production our county generates.
"Yet there seems to be a spotlight and deliberate focus on ensuring Kerry continues to carve up its countryside and split tight-knit rural communities for the development of inefficient onshore wind energy."
Organic farmer, cheesemaker and well-known environmentalist, Kate Carmody, has described the minister’s recommendation as “a travesty to justice, the environment and the community as a whole.” Many of the areas in the minister’s recommendation are peatland areas “and therefore large carbon stores, in their own right,” Ms Carmody who lives in Beal said.
There is plenty of peer-reviewed science available, particularly in Scotland, to show the devastation caused by putting wind turbines in bogs she said, referring to mudslides and other damage.
“In my own community of North Kerry we saw one wind farm construction, where they had to go down twice the permitted depth to ensure enough foundation, using thousands of tonnes of rock, steel and concrete, displacing huge amounts of peat and habitat. Another turbine near me had to be taken down last year, as it was rocking on its foundation,” Ms Carmody said
However, a small number of the submissions say the council should not succumb to populism.
Dr Peadar O’Fionnàinn, a GP in Dingle and a member of the Green Party said it is important that Kerry County Council “respects the laws of the land, and planning guidance, and not bend to populism in the teeth of a climate crisis”.
”We desperately need urgent renewable energy, and should fight for communities to benefit from profits of wind energy through sustainable community funds or ownership of wind farms,” he said.
A report on councillors' views as well as public submissions will now be compiled by the chief executive of Kerry County Council to the OPR and a decision taken whether the minister should issue a final direction to the council.
Councillors have already warned they are prepared to take a judicial review if a final direction to change the wind energy policy issues.
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