North Offaly is saying "enough is enough" on windfarms, council told

A claim that north Offaly is being overrrun by wind farms has been made this week with one local councillor declaring its “time to stand up and say enough is enough.”

During a discussion at the October meeting of Offaly County Council on a planning application for the proposed Ballinla Wind Farm, Fianna Fail Cllr Clare Murray Smale claimed that north Offaly is being “saturated” with wind turbines.

Planning permission for the Ballinla wind farm, which would see the construction of up to seven wind turbines with a maximum height of 185 metres on lands just 4km from Edenderry town, is being sought directly from An Coimisiun Pleanála following a recommendation from the planning board last November that the large-scale project constitutes Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID).

The project is part of the Norwegian state-owned renewables giant; Statkraft, which entered the Irish market in 2018.

Cllr Murray Smale, who called a recent public meeting about the proposed Ballinla wind farm, pointed out that “over 200 complaints” have already been lodged with Offaly County Council by residents living in the vicinity of the nearby Cloghan wind farm, which is another Statkraft project. “How can we even be considering another Statkraft project?” she asked.

Her Sinn Féin council colleague, Cllr Claire Murray said north Offaly has “some of the worst roads in the country” and local communities had seen “no benefits whatsoever” as a result of the vast number of wind farms, solar farms, battery storage farms and other energy projects across the wider Edenderry area. “It is just startling what north Offaly is being asked to asked to shoulder, where does it end? Do these energy companies consider anywhere else in Offaly or anywhere else in the country when they are making their planning applications?" she asked.

The council's executive planner, Úna McCafferkey, presented a planners report before this week's meeting on the Ballinla Wind Farm project, which recommended that Further Information be sought from the applicants about a number of aspects of the plan, including setback distance from residential areas and noise levels. She also told the meeting that even if an area is zoned for large scale infrastructure projects “we are always looking for best practice guidelines to be followed” and she added that the council is also entitled to ask the applicants what other sites they had considered before seeking planning permission in the north Offaly area. Council Cathaoirleach Cllr John Leahy remarked that if the Ballinla wind farm project was a housing application “it would be deemed to be incomplete due to the fact that there is so much information missing” and he urged the council to push for “fairly substantial further information” on the Statkraft plans.

The recommendations of the elected representatives, along with those of the planners, will now form part of the Chief Exective's Report which will be submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála. The Coimisiún is due to make its decision on the Ballinla wind farm planning application by September 3, 2026, according to details posted on its website.