January 21, 2014
Ireland

Series of meetings held in village; Old Leighlin battles wind turbines plan

Carlow People | 14 January 2014 | www.independent.ie

The people of Old Leighlin have united in bitter opposition to plans to put a massive wind farm in the area. The Valley View Wind Farm which has been proposed by Cavan-based Galatech Energy Developments Ltd is planned for the Ridge/Old Leighlin area.

Under the proposed plans, 21 huge wind turbines would be dotted across Old Leighlin, Raheen, Bawnree and Lacken.

Locals have already met on several occasions about the planned development and have vowed to fight it every step of the way.

‘We’ve had a couple of meetings at this stage,’ said Tyrone Kelly, one of the residents and group leaders. ‘People are only beginning to realise what it will mean for them. These things are huge. Even people in Kilkenny will be affected as they will see these things on the skyline.’

Apart from the visual impact, the group is also concerned about noise pollution and the consequences for the agricultural community. Each wind turbine would be 99 metres high with a rotor diameter of 82 metres.

‘Representatives from the company travelled down from Cavan to the last meeting,’ Tyrone said. ‘They just came down and told us that we wouldn’t have any noise and that there was no danger. Things became quite heated as they just didn’t seem to be listening.’

If planning permission is granted for the project, construction is due to begin in 2016 and is estimated to take 12 to 15 months.

Members of the community are currently undertaking a number of fundraisers in order to raise money to hire environmental experts to further their case against the project.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/01/21/series-of-meetings-held-in-village-old-leighlin-battles-wind-turbines-plan/