Meeting hears of solar farm concerns

A PUBLIC meeting in Kentstown heard criticisms of developers of a proposed solar farm for their lack of communication with the local community.

Highfield Solar Ltd. submitted planning application last year for the Curraghtown Solar Farm which would cover 400 acres outside Kentstown and would generate enough electricity each year to power approximately 22,000 homes.

If approved, the solar farm would be operational for 35 years and afterwards would be decommissioned with the lands returned to their original state. As it is to be developed under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), the information sent to residents outlined that a community benefit fund of approximately €186,000 a year would be available for local projects.

The solar farm would be connected to the grid via a new substation on the development land and a separate planning application is to be submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála for this pending confirmation that it constitutes a Strategic Infrastructural Development (SID).

The company previously stated the location was chosen because of its proximity to the existing transmission network citing the proximity to the Garballagh 110kV substation and the existing Deenes 110kV station. Other considerations given were the “limited environmental impacts including flood risk, ecology, landscape and visual impact, cultural heritage and archaeology, the sunlight intensity levels and the planning policy in the Meath County Development Plan.”

In response to these plans a meeting was held last Monday (12th January) at the Kentstown Village Park Hub where local residents and politicians alike voiced their concerns.

Some residents living in the vicinity of the proposed Solar Farm received correspondence from Highfield Solar Farm Ltd last September but the meeting heard not everyone close to the proposed area was given information packs.

This included local Cllr Suzanne Jamal who said she “had no consultation whatsoever” .

Cllr Alan Tobin said the Curraghtown solar panel planning application is “the best of the lot” in comparison to the Knockharley landfill just outside the town and the power plant which has been granted planning permission, noting how Ashbourne has benefited from their solar farms and the community funds that have been provided to the town.

Cllr Jamal encouraged locals to put in submissions regarding this plan and said “A lot of them seem to be getting permission, that’s the reality, but if we say nothing we get nothing so I think we need to voice our concerns.”

The deadline for submissions is 24th January.