A LAOIS GROUP has raised €40,000 in a week to fund a legal challenge to Coillte’s introduction of a wind farm in their area.

Coillte plans to build 18 wind turbines on its land between the villages of Ballyroan and Timahoe. Energy produced through the Cullenagh Wind Farm project would be added to the Irish national grid at Portlaoise via an underground cable, according to Coillte.

An Bord Pleanála recently approved planning permission for the project, overruling an inspector’s report recommending refusing permission over the visual impact of the proposal. Although acknowledging that the turbines would be visually prominent in some places, the planning body said that the visual impact of the project would be acceptable.

The People Over Wind group is seeking €50,000 in donations to launch a legal challenge to the planning decision and raised €40,000 already, according to a statement from the group.

Members are concerned about the impact of the creation of a wind farm on the local mountain in Cullenagh, particularly the visual impact of the turbines and the effects of turbine noise and shadows.

They are also worried that this project will spark the launch of further wind farm developments in the area.

Engagement

Earlier this month, the National Economic and Social Council released a report on engaging social support for renewable energy projects.

Noting a shift in public support for wind energy and other renewable energy projects, the report recommended building social support for such projects through inclusive public participation which can shape discussions on energy projects.

Engagements with concerned communities could incorporate energy efficiency and renewable energies, the report said, along with “a developmental approach to shaping and sharing local value so that the community’s overall economic and social development would be the key objective”.

Read: Coillte and Bord na Móna come together in joint venture > 

Read: This wind turbine caught fire and threw a flaming blade dozens of metres >

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