| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Knock Iveagh turbine £1m shock
Credit: Banbridge Chronicle | 20 January 2021 | thebanbridgechronicle.com ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
The ABC Council could face a compensation bill of well over £1m, after the Department of Infrastructure said it would not oversee – and pay for – the removal of a wind turbine at the ancient Knock Iveagh site, near Rathfriland.
The Department for Infrastructure said it would not pick up the cost of fixing a procedural planning mistake for which the now-defunct Department of the Environment is responsible.
The hill at Knock Iveagh, which is home to a stone-age burial cairn, was an inauguration site for Irish kings and is a protected monument.
A planning mistake meant archaeological experts were not consulted about the turbine application before approval was given.
They later said that had they been, they would have recommended refusal.
The mistake was made at a time when planning was the responsibility of the former Department of the Environment and before the powers were transferred to local councils.
The ABC Council inherited the problem and has struggled for years to deal with it.
Infrastructure Minister, Nichola Mallon has ruled, however, that the local authority has both the responsibility and the power to act.
“Having spent some considerable time and resource investigating and assessing this case over a period of three years, the [ABC] Council, as the local planning authority for the area, is both best placed to make this decision and is the authority with responsibility to do so,” she said.
The ‘Friends of Knock Iveagh’ group, which has campaigned for the removal of the turbine, described the outcome as “pathetic”.
The group said: “We suggest they go into a room together, close the door and not come out until they have a solution that rights the wrongs at Knock Iveagh.”
The ABC Council is remaining tight-lipped on the contentious matter, with a council spokesperson simply stating: “Council is aware of the matter and is currently reviewing the correspondence that has been issued by the Department.”
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Funding |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=99225 ]
