Turbines will scare horses
Wind farm ‘would put top stud out of business’
THE owners of a stud farm have called the offer of a €25,000 dividend for households within one kilometre of a proposed €65m wind farm an insult.
Dermot Kelly and Rosario Tiernan, of Heather Crest stud farm in Geashill, Co. Offaly, have invested more than €900,000 in their business in the past decade.
They breed some of the most successful racehorses in the country, and also offer a ‘resting place’ for champion horses from the Curragh, less than half an hour away.
Mr Kelly has warned in a submission to An Bord Pleanála that if the 12-turbine wind farm goes ahead, just 350m from his property, trainers will pull horses from his farm and his business will have to close.
It is feared that the turbines would disturb the horses, creating a risk of falls or injury to the horses and jockeys training there.
The couple say they were offered €25,000 by representatives of the developers, Element Power.
The European company, which operates wind farms throughout the country, stretching from Kerry to Donegal, returned annual post-tax profits of more than €8.6m, according to its most recent financial accounts.
The proposal by Element Power for its Moanvane Wind Farm is for a 12-turbine wind farm, of which the highest would be 169m, and it says it would provide green energy to over 35,000 Irish houses.
‘Did they really think it was a sufficient amount to compensate for losing our business and potentially our home?’ the couple asked. ‘Taking into account that we have bred and sold foals for in excess of €130,000, why would we accept that derogatory sum? We obviously said: “No, thanks.”’
Mr Kelly told the Irish Mail on Sunday the offer was an insult.
In response to queries from the MoS, a spokesman for Element Power confirmed that it put in place a ‘household dividend scheme’, which would set aside €25,000 for every household within one kilometre of the project, which could be drawn down over a period of 10 to 25 years.
‘It is standard practice to ensure that communities that host a wind farm in their area benefit economically, environmentally and socially from the project, and this can be structured in a variety of ways, depending on local wishes,’ said a spokesman.
The company said this was in addition to other incentives, including establishing a community benefit fund of in the region of €1.2m for the area.
The Geashill Wind Information Group, which has also lodged an objection with An Bord Pleanála, said: ‘The approach taken by the applicants risks dividing the community.’ Breege Loftus, a member of the Geashill Wind Information Group, said the proposed development had already caused a rift in the community. ‘We face a massive battle and an unfair one,’ Ms Loftus told the MoS. ‘There is tremendous pressure on us as a small community. We are all in favour of renewable energy but no one should have to live near a wind farm. I fear that the authorities distraction: Proposed turbines are 350m from stud farm are only looking at the money, without realising what they are actually doing to Offaly.’
The information group said the €1.2m community fund ‘works out as very small change over the 30year lifespan of proposed development’, and that there were 52 occupied houses within 1km of the proposed turbines.
Mr Kelly said his associates in the horse-racing industry had warned that they would no longer be able to support his business if the development went ahead.
‘Those in the industry have told us they will take their horses away from here if it goes ahead. The risks are too great. There is a risk of a fall or injury to both horses and jockeys,’ he said.
In their submission, the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association said there was a ‘very real risk of thoroughbreds being adversely affected by turbines being located within their range of vision’.
Curragh trainer Darren Bunyan, who regularly sends horses to the farm, supported their submission, saying the location of the turbines would be a ‘recipe for disaster’.
‘If the development goes ahead, I will no longer, in conscience, be able to support Dermot and Rosario,’ said Mr Bunyan.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary bought one of their foals several years ago, which was later sold on for a far larger sum.
Two of the mares at Heather Crest were sired by the world’s leading sire, Coolmore’s Galileo, who won the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby. Each November the stud’s foals are sold at Goffs.
‘Horse owners in Qatar have been interested in the area but saw there is no real regulation of wind farms here and switched their interests to France,’ Mr Kelly pointed out.
The figurehead of the world’s largest horseracing empire, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was earlier said to be perturbed by proposals for swathes of turbines in the midlands, where part of his multibillion-euro operation is located.
‘Why should we accept that derogatory sum?’ ‘The location is a recipe for disaster’