Council planners question benefit of viewing platform

WHILE it isn’t the function of Clare County Council to decide on the proposed 45-turbine development at Shragh, Doonbeg, the local authority has identified issues of concern with the proposal.

At the council meeting on Monday, county manager Tom Coughlan explained that the council can prepare a submission for An Bord Pleanála, who will make the final decision.
The manager explained to councillors that in preparing a submission, the “planners have taken policies adopted by you and applied them to this case”.
He said that the members could attach extra recommendations if they chose to do so. Speaking about the report, Mr Coughlan said that it was believed that the provision of a viewing platform wasn’t much of a gain for the community. Instead he said it may be suitable for funding to be provided for local organisations.
Mr Coughlan explained that a development contribution in the region of €1.35m would be in order for the proposal. He added that, while the proposal would go a long way towards achieving the council’s targets regarding renewable energy, there are concerns about the scale of the proposal.
He said that the development may be at variance with the designation of the site in the council’s wind energy strategy and that it could be more acceptable in an area designated for strategic development.
Councillor Oliver Garry said that the matter has been “a topical subject” in West Clare in recent times and that the proposals size is “out of kilter” with the area’s designation.
He felt that the proposal will inevitably impact on local roads based on bog and limestone.
Councillor PJ Kelly agreed that the development could put roads at risk. “I don’t think there’s an area of county Clare with the same potential for damage to the roads.” He added that a second issue was the removal of peat for foundations.
Councillor Christy Curtin said he wished to compliment the manager and senior executive planner Gordon Daly on the report and asked if there was a precedent in relation to the concerns about the roads that were raised. 
Speaking to the meeting, planner Gordon Daly said that while the council couldn’t materially contravene it’s own development plan, An Bord Pleanála can do so.
He said he expected the agency would deal very strongly with the issue of roads. After taking some time to consider the proposed wording ,the councillors agreed to include an amendment to the submission stating, “Clare County Council considers that the proposed development would have a significant adverse impact on road infrastructure in the area.
“Should An Bord Pleanála decide to grant planning permission, the council considers that the developer must provide significant funding for any necessary reinstatement of the road infrastructure by a condition.
“Given the nature and scale of the proposed development, should An Bord Pleanála grant planning permission, a satisfactory peat soil management plan must be agreed before the issuing of planning permission,” he concluded.