This article is from page 16 of the 2009-07-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
MEMBERS of Clare County Council were updated on progress of a review which could lay the foundations for Clare being one of the wind energy centres of Ireland.
The presentation on progress of the revised wind energy strategy for Clare was given by Ruth Minnogue of Minnogue and Associates, the consultants appointed by the council
to up-date the strategy.
Ms Minnogue told the meeting that in reviewing the existing strategy, one of the important aims Is to “iden- tify robust areas, which meet the re- quirements of wind energy genera- tion” where there is a good chance of obtaining planning permission for AUD u Oy EA oe
She told the council that while there are problems when it comes to connection to the grid as it is “ona
first come, first served basis, we are well placed in Clare having access to Moneypoint.”
In surveying the county, the con- sultants were putting various areas into one of four categories: strategic areas where there is a good likeli- hood of generating wind power, areas which are acceptable in principal, ar- eas which are open for consideration and areas where permission would not normally be possible.
Which category an area falls into would depend on a number of factors, including wind-speed, proximity to houses, geological and environmen- tal considerations and the archaeol- ogy of that area.
Councillors asked questions con- cerning various aspects of the review and concerning planning regula- tions.
After Slieve Aughty was mentioned in the presentation as a possible lo-
cation, Cllr Pat Hayes asked whether the review would look at individual townlands and was told it would not. Rather there would be an overview of an area as broadly suitable with each application still having to go through the planning process.
Councillors were also told that the review should be completed by this September and members were invit- ed to raise any issues with the con- Sultants.