Wind farm company challenges planning permission for Tipperary woman’s home
A renewable energy company has appealed a Tipperary County Council decision to grant planning permission for a home for a local woman and her family.
Brenda Campion applied to the local authority for planning permission to build a single-storey detached home in Rossestown, just outside Thurles.
Last month, Tipperary County Council granted permission to Ms Campion, subject to 14 conditions, including that the house be Ms Campion’s place of permanent residence for at least seven years, that all cables for electricity, TV and internet be routed underground, and that hedgerows around the land be maintained at all times.
However, renewable energy company Orsted Onshore have appealed the grant of permission to An Coimisiún Pleanála, questioning Ms Campion’s eligibility to build a home in a rural area.
In a letter to the planning appeals board, an agent on behalf of Orsted said that as the applicant had previously owned a home, she should not be considered eligible under the council’s ‘local need’ rules.
Local need rules set out a strict set of criteria that a person must fulfil in order to get planning permission to build a home in a rural area. Included in this are that the applicant has a significant tie to the area for at least 10 years, and that they can’t already own a property.
The agent for Orsted said that “the planners report for this application acknowledges that the applicant has previously owned a home. This is contrary to the clear intent of the development plan which restricts rural housing in these areas to applicants who are building their first home”.
"The proposal does not comply with the rural housing policy objectives,” the agent added.
The agent for Orsted also raised concerns about traffic on the Rossestown Road, and the access point for the new house.
"The access is frequently used by farm vehicles and contractors operating large machinery. It is unclear from the current application how the farmland will continue to be accessed should the dwelling proceed".
Orsted also said that the house design didn’t comply with the Rural Housing Design Guide, that it doesn’t make as much use as possible of the sun, and that no details of any renewable energy measures have been added, apart from the inclusion of solar PV panels.
Orsted Onshore operate several wind farms across Ireland, including the Lisheen Mine wind farm near Thurles, as well as the Garracummer wind farm near Cashel.
The company are also planning a new wind farm in the Brittas area of Thurles, which would span the townlands of Brittas, Rossestown and Clonbanna.
The Brittas wind farm would have a capacity ranging from 57MW to 66MW, and would aim to help meet Ireland’s renewable energy targets.
The company had intended to go to Tipperary County Council for planning permission for the Brittas wind farm project in Q4 of 2024, with a target to commence commercial operations coming sometime in 2028.
Orsted were contacted for a comment, but none was received by the time of publication.