April 11, 2016
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council set to meet Ora More wind farm developers over poor state of roads near construction site
Jonathan Rainey | www.impartialreporter.com
Jonathan Rainey | www.impartialreporter.com
A delegation from Fermanagh and Omagh District Council is due to meet with the developers of a wind farm between Boho and Belcoo next week to discuss the poor state of the roads in the area.
At the monthly meeting of the local authority on Tuesday night, it was confirmed that an informal meeting would be held with NTR plc, the developers of the Ora More wind farm, on Wednesday, April 13 at Enniskillen Townhall.
Representatives of Transport NI will also be in attendance.
Independent councillor, Bernice Swift, had sought the meeting after revealing how heavy goods vehicles going to and from the construction site of the Ora More wind farm had left the roads in the area “massively unsafe”.
At the council’s March monthly meeting, Erne West representative Ms Swift alleged that the heavy traffic passing through the area as a result of continuing work on the wind farm had contributed to the “extremely atrocious” state of the local roads, currently peppered with pot holes.
On another issue related to the wind farm, which is expected to be operational by the end of the year, Ms Swift told this month’s council meeting that she was “disappointed” to hear that the Ora More developers had already entered into a Community Fund agreement with four organisations in the area.
The councillor said she understood that the four community groups would receive an annual fund of £7,500 per annum for the 25-year lifespan of the wind farm.
However, she added that this was a “drop in the ocean” compared to the millions of pounds of profit that would be generated by the Ora More development.
She claimed that this would be “poor solace” for the people using the roads in the meantime.
Speaking after Tuesday night’s meeting, Ms Swift added: “This also needs to be revisited at our meeting in a much better spirit of generosity as the vast majority of people currently adversely affected by the wind farm will most likely not benefit directly from the Fund.”