Fresh planning bid for controversial Westmeath windfarm
A fresh planning bid has been launched for a development of nine large-scale wind turbines in South Westmeath, after a previous planning refusal for the project was quashed.
The windfarm development is proposed for a site between Moyvoughley and Drumraney, some 2km from Ballymore.
Known as the Umma More Renewable Energy Development, it was devised in association with Cork-based company Enerco Energy Ltd and involves a proposal for nine turbines with a tip height of 185 metres.
The project has been mooted for several years and has attracted opposition from a number of local residents in Moyvoughley, Ballymore, and surrounding areas.
In February of last year, An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for the wind farm development. Subsequently, in April, a High Court action against An Bord Pleanála in relation to the project was initiated on behalf of Enerco Energy Ltd.
An Bord Pleanála's website this month stated that the planning application for the windfarm has now been reactivated, after the board's refusal of planning permission last year was "quashed by order of the High Court".
An Bord Pleanála is due to make a decision on the reactivated planning application for the development by May 13 next.
According to the original planning application, which was lodged in March 2023, eighteen landowners gave consent to have their land used for the proposed development.
The site for the proposed windfarm is located 2km southwest of Ballymore, and 6.6km north of Moate, in the townlands of Ballynafearagh, Raheen, Baskin High, Baskin Low, Lissanode, Umma Beg or Moneynamanagh, and Umma More.
A report on the development in 2023 by the then-CEO of Westmeath County Council Pat Gallagher, and his senior officials, said the local authority did not recommend approval for the project because it contravened the Westmeath County Development Plan which says windfarms should be directed to cutaway peatlands.
In its decision, signed off in mid-February last, the planning board cited this stipulation in Westmeath Development Plan as a reason for the refusing permission.
It also said it was not clear that "the methodology applied to the collision risk of birds with turbines" in the plans was "scientifically robust".
The board said it had not been satisfied that the project would not interfere with conservation objectives relating to two bird species: the Black-Headed Gull and Lapwing.