Alternative energy regulation - Guidelines are needed now

IT’S a quarter of a century since the Ireland’s first windfarm was established at Bellacorrick in Mayo yet we do not have the kind of guidelines for these projects — or solar energy projects either — that inspires confidence or, more importantly, trust in our planning process.

The issue came to the fore again, at a meeting of Cork County Council yesterday, when it was pointed out that under legislation the noise generated by a windfarm cannot be assessed until a project is complete.

This seems an only-in-Ireland silliness because if one turbine breaks noise limits surely an entire, completed windfarm will do so as well?