Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill as it is particularly relevant to my county of Clare and specifically to the residents who are affected by the planning application for the wind farm development proposed for the Cahermurphy area. This development includes ten turbines reaching to 170 m and there is strong opposition to this proposed development among local residents who, as they describe, would ultimately be living in the shadow of these turbines for many years to come.

The planning application was rushed into the local authority and has caused major distress and anger among these residents. As far as they can see this application was pushed with little or no public consultation and during a pandemic. Employees of the developer arrived unexpectedly at people's doors with a glossy brochure. It is completely understandable that people were nervous and did not feel comfortable with a stranger arriving at the height of the pandemic. This development has been planned for the past seven years, yet the community affected got just six weeks. The people who live within 2 km of the proposed development were not even made aware of the application. Many in the area were left with little or no knowledge and could not submit objections. The residents rightly pointed out that many of them have poor broadband and lost valuable time accessing the planning documents as there was a long delay in these documents being scanned and made available to the public. This is not acceptable. Sinn Féin has tabled an amendment to strengthen public participation and I hope it is accepted.

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