An Bord Pleanála directed to reconsider decision on Cork wind farm near whooper swan habitat
The proposed turbines would reach a blade tip height of 175 metres with a rotor diameter of 150 metres.
A decision by An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning permission for a wind farm in North Cork in order to protect the habitat of the whooper swan has been quashed by the High Court.
Mr Justice Richard Humphreys also directed that the application for planning permission for a proposed development of a wind farm at Annagh in North Cork be sent back to the board for reconsideration.
The proposed development by Annagh Wind Farm Ltd would include the construction of six wind turbines at a site at Annagh North near Charleville in North Cork. The proposed turbines would reach a blade tip height of 175 metres with a rotor diameter of 150 metres. The development on a 78-hectare site would also include access tracks, drainage works and an electrical substation.
Planning permission was originally sought for the development in February 2021 but was refused in December 2022 by Cork County Council.
The ecological inspection report carried out for Cork County Council stated that the proposed development would likely have a permanent significant negative effect on an area of high local biodiversity value and the granting of permission for the development would be contrary to the County Development Plan 2014.
It added that the proposed development had “the potential to cause significant negative effects on populations of protected species occurring within and dependent on the proposed development site.”
In its decision to uphold the refusal, the board said it was not satisfied on the basis of the information submitted with the application and appeal “ that it can be determined beyond reasonable scientific doubt that the proposed development, either individually or in combination with other plans or projects, will not have an adverse effect on the whooper swan, a species of conservation interest of the Kilcolman Bog Special Protection Area.”
The matter then came before the court by way of a legal challenge to the board decision by Annagh Wind Farm Ltd.
The judicial review case centred on whether there was correct procedure in relation to the decision by An Bord Pleanala.
Mr Justice Humphreys said the inspector had identified a submission relevant to the appropriate assessment as to the Environment Impact Assessment that had emerged on a related file and conducted her assessment taking that into . The inspector, the judge said, had also commendably proposed that an Annagh Wind Farm Ltd be given an opportunity to comment.
The judge said unfortunately the board “sought to have its cake and eat it too” by adopting the inspector's assessment in its order while purporting to disregard the submission in its non-legally binding direction and dispensing with the proposal to notify Annagh Wind Farm Ltd of anything further.
Annagh Wind Farm Ltd, the judge said, learned of the submission for the first time on receipt of the board’s decision.
In a judgment delivered this week, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys said it followed from the board order that the submission was indirectly considered and the failure to give Annagh Wind Farm Ltd notice of the submission was therefore a breach of a section of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
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