‘They were the biggest trucks I’ve ever seen in my life’ – Fears works on new Wexford solar farm will destroy rural roads
Wexford PeopleA Wexford councillor has been forced to get up in the middle of the night to remonstrate with ESB workers building a new solar farm in her village. The Wexford Hub Solar Farm, due to be complete in Spring 2027, will comprise of sites in Growtown, Youngstown, Dennistown and Mayglass with all sites connecting back to a new substation located at Dennistown via two new 33kV underground cables.
And already residents in Murrintown are feeling the effects of construction works involving trucks which Councillor Lisa McDonald said were the biggest she’d ever seen in her life.
“The substation is going to be beside our house and the trucks the ESB is using are massive, the biggest trucks I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said at the September meeting of the Rosslare Municipal District (RMD). “They have caused difficulties for those living locally, they were driving far too fast, and had scant regard for the local community.
"Now they are now going to lay the underground cable and and it’s going to be continuing all winter, they’ve already broken up some sections of the road and it’s going to get worse.”
Addressing senior engineer for the RMD, Michael Brazzil, the Fianna Fáil councillor said: “You need to engage with the ESB and be on top of this constantly. What is its plan to ensure it’s not disrupting traffic? This is a through road in Murrintown so we need to have a plan in writing on how it’s going to mitigate against this. These works are gong to be a feature of our lives as councillors over the next 3-4 months.”
Indeed, at one point during the summer, Cllr McDonald was left with no option but to address the workers directly.
“I had to go out and talk to them in the middle of the night, they were going at it on the lane beside our house, the whole place was shaking. When I asked them to turn down the engine a bit they did – maybe they need to scale it back a bit and not try to rush the job through, it may have less of an impact on the community then.”
Cllr McDonald received support from Cllr Jim Codd who asked that the RMD contact the Minister for Transport to discuss how funding for rural roads is allocated. Currently all county councils receive funding for roads based on the length per kilometre of those roads. However, Cllr Codd, and others, have asked that the condition of the roads, rather than their volume, be taken into account when funding is provided to councils.
While agreeing with Cllr Codd’s idea to contact the Minister for Transport, Cllr McDonald said that perhaps the focus should be on those representing other districts similar to the RMD.
“We need to call on the rural ministers to make these points on our behalf,” she said.