Offaly Councillors call for HSE to examine health effects of wind farms 

The Councillors of Offaly County Council have called upon the Health Service Executive to examine the health implications of Wind Farms in Offaly.

Cllr Clare Murray-Smale put a Motion to the December meeting of the Council requesting that any complaints received by the Council from members of the public about wind turbine noise and about shadow flicker should be referred to the HSE for “proper investigation as a matter of urgency.”

The motion was seconded by Cllr Seán O’Brien and received strong support from several Councillors. Addressing the meeting, Cllr Murray-Smale pointed out that communities must be protected and having noise and shadow flicker complaints referred to the HSE is the right decision. She said North and West Offaly has done it’s fair share of heavy lifting with regard to wind turbines; “and yet we see more and more applications for more turbines, compacted into our countryside, close to houses and communities. We already know neighbours are suffering with turbine noise and flicker, which are having a devastating effect on individuals.” Cllr Murray-Smale said there’s a large part of Strategic Infrastructure Development which the Councillors cannot control “but we must do what we can to protect communities and the support today of my fellow Councillors is to be welcomed.” She also extended a “huge thank you” to Brenda Dowling from CEPA, the Community Environmental Protection Alliance, “who has been a fantastic source of help and is a wealth of evidence based knowledge on this issue.”

Cllr Murray-Smale said there are about 60 residents living near Cloghan Wind Farm and they have made a number of health-related complaints to the Council in the last couple of years. “This is not a few people complaining about a bit of noise. This is many people strongly impacted by living in close proximity to these mega turbines.” She added that she was glad to recently learn that the HSE is going to withdraw its 2017, now outdated wind turbine guidelines.

Cllr O’Brien said he was “delighted” to second the motion and every Councillor is aware of “the serious issue in Cloghan. The noise levels recorded there have been serious and the HSE need to be informed about this so they can take action. As we all know, we have been calling for updated wind farm guidelines for a long time, but the government is dragging its feet on providing us with these new guidelines. We don’t know what the reason is for this dragging.”

Cllr John Leahy, Cathaoirleach, said the wind energy issue will be discussed during the next meeting of the Council’s Corporate Policy Group.

Cllr Eddie Fitzpatrick pointed out that many people in Offaly are “hugely concerned” because there is such a high number of wind turbines in the county. “When we drew up our Wind Energy Policy in 2009 for our County Development Plan we didn’t foresee the magnitude of the problem which we are faced with today. The county is now saturated with turbines. We have to be very mindful and sympathetic towards people living near them. It’s very unfair on people living close to them. I myself have received a number of calls from people about the noise issue. The turbines have significantly changed our landscape in a number of ways. For example when you are driving at night you see all these red lights across the sky. The problem is a number of private wind farm companies are looking to develop in Offaly because our County Development Plan allows them to do so. As I drive through Ireland I notice that many other counties don’t have the same number of turbines as we do.”

Cllr Seán Maher said he supported the motion; adding that the HSE “needs to become part of the discussion.People built houses and they enjoyed a good quality of life living in a beautiful rural location. Then the wind farms came along and it’s had a negative impact on peoples’ lived experience, especially for people with medical needs. Cllr Fergus McDonnell supported the motion adding that in a sense “the horse has already bolted in Offaly. We now have far too many turbines.” He added that he objected to the Wind Farms in Mountlucas and Cloncreen. He said Bord na Móna has an application for the construction of 47 wind turbines near Edenderry. “Show me one owner of a wind farm who is living beside a turbine. There isn’t one.”