South Longford locals angry over proposed solar farm the size of ‘141 GAA pitches’

A Lanesboro community group is highlighting the potential impact of a proposed 363-acre industrial solar farm, which they say would cover a total land area equivalent to “141 GAA pitches.”

The Protect Lanesboro Community Group last week held a very well attended public meeting about the planning application for the Carrowroe Solar Farm which is being proposed for land between Lanesboro and Fermoyle National School.

According to the group, the glass solar panels alone are expected to cover “an area larger than 47 GAA pitches.”

The application for the development was first submitted on August 19 last. Residents now have until September 22 to lodge formal objections to the development. Longford County Council is due to return their decision by October 13.

The 363 acres, which will contain CCTV throughout, will span fields across Lanesboro, Rathcline, Tullyvrane, Lisrevagh, Lisnacusha and Carrowroe. According to the application, it will consist of twenty four MV stations and one 110kV substation; 8.9km of new vehicle track across agricultural land, and 3.8km of cable trenching through local roads.

The solar farm is proposed to operate for a minimum of 40 years with provision already included in the application for future expansion. This, the group says, will “change the place we live in for a generation and beyond.”

“This isn't about one field,” said the Protect Lanesboro Community Group. “It's 363 acres, right beside our town, right beside our children's schools, for a minimum of forty years, with zero jobs and zero benefit to the people who actually live here. We're asking everyone in this community to have their voice heard before September 22.”

In a statement released to the Longford Leader, the group outlined a variety of grounds as to why the development should be objected to by locals and refused by Longford County Council. In addition to their aforementioned point that the farm will result in “zero permanent local jobs”, they added that it will have “no local benefit - no cheaper electricity for residents, no backup power during outages. All electricity generated goes to the national grid.”

They also point out that the development will be located “immediately adjacent to residential areas in Lanesboro and Rathcline” and say that it will result in “reduced property values,” “loss of visual amenity,” and “loss of productive farmland, with implications for the long-term sustainability of farming in the area.”

The group’s statement, which claimed that the “habitat disturbance carries a documented risk of increasing the spread of bovine TB”, went on to list the risks attached to the development, namely, “risk of uncontrollable fire in associated energy storage systems; risk of glare and glint from panels, and risk to local fauna, flora and biodiversity; risk of lead leaking from damaged panels into vulnerable local aquifers, and risk to local heritage, culture and tourism.”

They stated that the development was considered by residents to be “incompatible with the County Development Plan” and that there was now a worry the town “risked becoming simply a hub for wind and solar development, and little else.”

Speaking to the Longford Leader, group member Olivia Fleming added, “We're really concerned that there's a lack of official guidelines when it comes to these solar farms; it seems to be a free-for-all in relation to the planning side. The private developers, for example, don't have to state the type of panels or the type of cables they’re using; they get 10 years of planning and then 40 years of a lease on the farms.”

“Why should 'we' permit private companies, solely interested in shareholder return and backed by foreign investment, to have the control and use of the Midlands' precious land where the vast majority of locals do not benefit but instead are negatively impacted.”

Local MEP Ciarán Mullooly confirmed for the group that the Independent Ireland party is “not in favour of the use of high-quality farming land for the development of solar farms in any part of Ireland" as it believes "the first priority should be given to the use of such land for farming purposes leading to the production of food.”

The Protect Lanesboro Community Group will be holding a clinic this Saturday September 12 to assist people with the process of lodging an objection. It will take place from 10am to 2pm in St Mary's Parish Hall in Lanesboro.

Details of future public meetings on the matter will be promoted on social media, church notes, and local newsletters.