A STORM picked up bluster in West Limerick as Limerick City and County Council was urged to move with caution around wind farm planning applications until new government guidelines are in place.
Members of the Adare-Rathkeale Municipal District received a presentation from the Council on its wind energy policy, which left some local representatives gasping.
At the monthly district meeting, Cllr Adam Teskey (FG) called for consideration to be given to any planning application for turbines in relation to noise disturbance, shadow flicker, and air quality.
He raised serious concerns about the future impact on residential areas and the population in locations with “proposed designs” for wind turbines in the future.
“We’ve seen this in Bruree and in my own locality of Coolcappa, it has sent shockwaves and shivers among the general public and the people going to be impacted by this. I am shocked and perplexed that we’re basing our knowledge on 2019 guidelines,” Cllr Teskey exclaimed.
“We’ve been waiting six years and there doesn’t seem to be any appetite from government to pick up the mantle and deal with this.”
The Fine Gael man felt a lot of the information around wind turbines and dealing with noise complaints were all based around “hypothetical” factors.
He pleaded with Council management to be cautious in relation to any planning application or expression of interest around wind farms until new guidelines are in place.
“The Trump administration has banned this outright in America,” he pointed out. “They said no, and for all his problems, I think the man could be right with this.”
Independent Ireland councillor John O’Donoghue voiced similar concerns and went as far as deeming wind turbines as “monstrosities” .
“These things are getting bigger and they’re becoming more frequent in this part of our area. None of us are denying the fact we need power, but these things are not the answer. They are causing more problems than solutions,” he said.
