Cork council wants better regulation for wind and solar farms

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Cork County Council is to write to the Environment Minister Darragh O'Brien asking that regulations for wind farms be updated immediately, and that regulations be put in place for solar farms and the associated battery energy storage systems (BESS).

The current wind energy development guidelines date back to 2006 and there are currently no central planning guidelines for large-scale solar farms. The decision to write to the minister stemmed from motions put forward by Kanturk-Mallow Councillors Trish Murphy and Liam Madden at this week’s Full Council meeting.

“We have been talking too long about this situation. I have never seen the damage that it has done to communities before and that is my main concern here today. Our communities have been split, first of all by developers coming in and offering what you call hello money, giving it to clubs and offering money, and that should be completely ruled out, it splits communities from the very word go,” said Cllr Madden, who put forward the motion relating to wind farms.

“All along we seem to talk about the hen harrier, we talk about other type of animals, we talk about things like that, well unfortunately we have not addressed the real issue of the communities and what it has done to them. There are people who have committed to communities, who have built their houses in good faith, that now cannot sell their houses.”

Putting forward the motion relating to solar farms and their BESS facilities, Cllr Trish Murphy said, "we're going through it in all our communities and it's safe to say that everyone agrees that it's splitting the communities and it's affecting people's livelihoods.

“Regulations are essential to ensure proper planning, safety, and environmental protection before planning applications are approved and clear regulations will help protect our communities and the environment. I think it's a matter of urgency that regulations are set.”

The motions were widely supported by the other Councillors at the meeting who voiced concerns in their areas about the number of applications to build wind and solar farms, coupled with the lack of adequate regulation at present.

Before the meeting, an alliance of County Cork action groups staged a protest outside County Hall calling for better regulation of renewables projects. Cork Communities Alliance for Change is an alliance of ten action groups around the county.

Bernie Collins of the Gooseberry Hill Action Group, part of the Cork Communities Alliance for Change, welcomed the Council’s decision to write to the minister. “It was a very, very successful morning. Super support from many Councillors who spoke out on the necessity for regulations on renewables,” she told the Irish Independent.