Council refuses windfarm

NMWT@Ballylongford – Press Briefing #5 Issued: 12th November 2017

Subject

KERRY COUNTY COUNCIL refuses planning permission for Ballylongford Wind Farm. Summary NMWT@Ballylongford is delighted to note that, at a meeting on 6th November 2017, Kerry County Council refused planning permission for the Ballylongford Wind Farm.

The Ballylongford Windfarm Group (comprising 12 local landowners and Dublin-based The Third Irish Forestry Fund plc) had applied to construct a wind farm consisting of 8 wind turbines with an overall ground to blade tip height of 126.5 metres at Aghanagran Lower, a low-lying area to the south of Ballylongford. Established by a number of concerned residents, NMWT@Ballylongford lodged a submission against the proposed wind farm which included over 550 signatures opposing this development. NMWT@Ballylongford wishes to sincerely thank all those involved in supporting their submission. Among the reasons given for refusal, Kerry County Council referred to the excessive proliferation of wind turbines in the low-lying landscape of North Kerry and the need to preserve the character of the area. NMWT@Ballylongford note that this proliferation has, in large part, occurred as a direct result of most of North Kerry being designated as either a Strategic Site Search Area or an area Open to Consideration for wind turbine development as a result of the Landscape Character Assessment report, published by Kerry County Council in 2012 (LCA). The LCA purported that North Kerry presented little if no intrinsic tourist value, despite the presence of the Wild Atlantic Way and Ballybunion Beach (voted Ireland’s 7th best beach by Independent.ie Travel). As a consequence, there are already 31 wind turbines in the immediate area surrounding Ballylongford and the character of the area has already been significantly altered by previous planning deci-