Minister approves plan to zone just 1% of land in Kerry for wind energy

The Office of the Planning Regulator had recommended zoning 736 square kms for wind energy in the county. Just 59 square kms is now zoned

Just two of five initial recommendations in the county's draft development plan published in August have been implemented in the minister Peter Burke's final directive. File picture

Efforts by the Planning Regulator (OPR) to revise Kerry's new wind energy policy, to bring it into line with national policy, have all but been rejected by the Minister of State for Planning and Local Government.

Just 59 square kilometres in Kerry adjacent to the high voltage 200Kv &110kv network in the north and east of the county are now zoned as open to consideration for wind, following a final directive by Minister of State, Peter Burke.

Mr Burke has also rejected the OPR’s advice to reclassify wind development from "Open to Consideration" to the much stronger “Permitted in Principle”.

The position represents “a seismic shift” from the last county development plan and from the minister’s initial stance which was in line with the recommendations from the OPR, a council meeting was told.

Just two of the five initial recommendations in the draft published in August have been implemented in the minister's final directive.

Earlier this year, the OPR warned Kerry County Council it was out of step with national policy in the 2022-2028 county development plan which restricted wind development to a tiny corner near Kilgarvan in the southeast.

The OPR recommendation was to zone for wind across 736 square kms, an area stretching from Killarney across the county to the north and the east. The minister's change of heart comes after some 785 submissions from the public were made in response to the minster’s draft directive which went on public display in Kerry in August.

The councillors’ unanimous views that Kerry, with close to 370 large turbines and producing 18% of the country’s wind energy had “done enough” had also been furnished to the minister. There had also been much criticism of the OPR in council meetings, with the regulator invited to visit Kerry.

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The “cumulative impact” of installed wind energy developments was taken into account by the minister, senior planner Damien Ginty told the December meeting of Kerry County Council. The minister had also accepted technical analysis by the planners in ruling out sensitive landscapes and other factors as logical and comprehensive, Mr Ginty said.

Chief executive of Kerry County Council Moira Murrell said: "The minister acknowledges our contribution as a county and the sensitivity of the county. 

Just 1% of the landmass of Kerry is open to consideration.

Compared to the previous 2015 - 2021 county development plan where 546 sq kms was open to consideration for wind, there had been “a seismic shift”, Ms Murrell said.

A number of councillors felt the decision still undermined people in Scartaglen and the northeast, but Ms Murrell stressed that the designation of the area as "open to consideration" rather than "permitted in priniciple" was an important distinction.

In a statement, the Office of the Planning regulator says its sole function is to make recommendations. “The OPR does not set planning policy. This is the responsibility of the Minister and Government. Nor does the OPR make local authority development plans. This is a reserved function for local authority members only."

One of the roles OPR is supposed to perform is the independent assessment of local authority plans to ensure they comply with national and regional policies. If the OPR considers that national or regional policies may not have been correctly applied in a draft development plan, it can make a recommendation to the local authority to address the matter.

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