This article is from page 23 of the 2012-04-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 23 JPG
A MAJORITY of members of Clare County Council have voted in favour of re-zoning an 80-acre tract of land at Stonehall near Newmarket on Fergus that could facilitate the development of a large-scale renewable energy plant in the area.
A total of 17 councillors voted against an amendment proposed by Fianna Fáil councillor Pat McMahon that called for the E3 enterprise zoning site to be removed from the draft Shannon Town and Environs Development Plan 2014-18. 12 councillors voted for the amendment.
Developers Carbon Sole Group have proposed developing a 70MW Combined Heat and Power (CHP) facility at Stonehall.
The proposal is strongly opposed by locals in the area who have voiced concerns over the safety and suitability of the proposal.
A large crowd of people living and working in the Stonehall area attended last Wednesday’s council meeting.
In putting forward the amendment, Cllr McMahon said a renewable energy development could be better facilitated in Shannon Industrial Estate.
He said the proposed power plant would be 43 stories high while three to four trucks would carry fuel to the plant every hour. Cllr McMahon said the proposal represents “an attack on the local community”.
He added, “Nobody that I’ve met is against enterprise but it has to be in the right location.”
Senior planner Gordon Daly set out the reasoning behind the proposal to zone Stonehall for renewable energy developments.
He said the area has good infrastructure, is physically suitable and is relatively unpopulated.
He said the Council had placed a strong emphasis on being pro-enterprise. Mr Daly said this approach “would not be worth anything unless you give it effect”.
He added, “We do believe it is more appropriate to zone more enterprise land in Shannon.”
Mr Daly said the area had been targeted specifically for renewable energy development in order to prevent a migration of businesses from the industrial estate.
He said the area could become a cluster for renewable energy industries.
Mr Daly told the meeting that at a time when the farming industry is under pressure, raw materials for renewable energy plants would be sourced locally.
Responding to suggestions that such developments would be better suited to the existing industrial estate, Mr Daly said there isn’t 80 acres of land in the free zone with characteristics similar to the Stonehall site.
Mr Daly said the planning application process would deal with concerns with regard to any future developments at the site.
He said, “Zoning is not a fait accompli for planning permission.”
He added, “We would recommend in the strongest possible terms to retain this zoning…It would be an opportunity missed for this county.”
Fine Gael councillor Sean McLoughlin supported the zoning of lands at Stonehall. He said if industry is not attracted to Shannon, emigration would become an even bigger problem than it already is. “I want jobs for Shannon,” he said.