‘We need to look after our climate, solar farms are the way forward’
Councillors expressed mixed views about the efficacy of solar farms during a debate following the presentation by council officials.
Fine Gael Cllr Noel French said that they need to address their energy policy and create an independence with regard to energy, cutting carbon emissions. “I see solar farms as hugely positive. They tend to be located where EirGrid lines already exist or there isn’t any unsightly infrastructural issues. They have little or no visual impact , a lot less than turbines”.
He expressed disappointment that there was only one functioning solar farm in the whole of the country, in Co Wicklow. “We have to be ambitious. We need to look after our climate and solar farms are the way forward”.
Independent Cllr Trevor Golden said there was a 50% appeal rate on planning issues and he wondered whether this was consistent with other types of planning applications. He also wondered if the applications for solar farms stated whether they were connected to the national grid. This wasn’t something Meath County Council could resolve but there was quite a considerable amount of cost involved in building sub-stations etc. “The concern I have is that we may have solar farms that are unable to get connected to the grid, or when they try to get connected to the grid they run into other issues like environmental and so on,” he said.
Sinn Fein Cllr Michael Gallagher said he had great reservations about solar farms. Surveys had shown that the country has enough roof areas and industrial buildings to facilitate all the solar panels that were needed. In his opinion there was no need for solar farms.
A pause on the building of solar farms had been sought by her on a previous occasion, Independent Cllr Gillian Toole said. This was in light of availability of land for food production and amenity purposes. She said that she would have thought that in the Planning and Development Act 2000 in the interests of the common good there was provision for sustainable and proper planning, and that included green belts, the provision of housing, land that was available for food production. She said there were no guideline available and the local authority here ought to look at local authorities at Carmarthenshire in Wales and Cornwall, England where local authorities had started to “grade” land. This meant that the most fertile land should be conserved for the future and this sort of land should only be developed if there was an overriding need.
Cllr Toole said that she had done some research and if people drew a line from Bettystown across to Trim, there were 4,700 acres of land South of that line involved in applications for solar farms. This was probably the best arable land in the country. A balance was needed, she said. “Solar is fantastic and we have a notice of motion coming up later here about nuclear power but we can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. We have done that with a lot of our other assets”.
Sinn Fein Cllr Aisling O’Neill wondered how many of the solar schemes would be involved in the process whereby there would be a payback to the local community. Fine Gael Cllr Alan Tobin agreed with this and said it was important that schemes be introduced similar to the Knockharley refuse site and the Indaver facility where contributions are made to the local communities. What needed to be remembered was that we were at a “sticking point” on the climate. There had been very little rainfall in this country this Summer and that would have implications for growth of produce.
Independent Cllr Joe Bonner said that the constructions of solar farms going on at Kilbride, St Margaret’s, and The Wotton, mayhem was being caused on the roads. There was a lot of pressure on the community as a result. While people may welcome the solar farms, it was not fair that people would be “prisoners in their own homes” during the construction period.
Social Democrat Cllr Ronan Moore said that the disadvantages of solar farms were far outweighed by the benefits. There was the possibility of contributions to the local communities and also the possibility of the retrofitting of homes.
Labour Party Cllr Elaine McGinty wondered if there was a possibility of insisting that solar panels be installed in all new builds in the county. Independent Cllr Brian Fitzgerald said that he had always been in favour of solar power because it was “much gentler” on the environment than other forms of energy, including wind turbines.
Fine Gael Cllr Eugene Cassidy said that he was well aware of farmers who looked at the possibility of planning permission for solar farms. “The biggest thing you have to take into consideration is where you are in relation to the grid or a sub-station. How financially viable is it. Most of them knocked it on the head because it wasn't actually viable or suitable for the national grid. So they were actually a non-runner. We are limited in relation to the location of these solar farms and we need to look at this before we get carried away saying that this county can be covered with solar panels.