Public exhibition about proposed Tipperary wind farm can now be viewed online

A renewable energy company proposing to develop a wind farm of up to seven turbines between Drangan and Cloneen has set up a “virtual” public exhibition about its plans that went live on Tuesday, and can be viewed online for the next month.
The exhibition is organised by ABO Wind Ireland Ltd, which is aiming to lodge a planning application for its proposed Knockroe Windfarm with Tipperary County Council at the end of June or early July.
The Dublin based renewable energy company, which is part of the German ABO Wind Group, is at an advanced stage in preparing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the project.
This EIS will form part of the planning application, which will seek permission to develop a wind farm on a site within the townlands of Knockroe, Kilnagranagh, Newtowndrangan and Tullowcussaun.
The site is situated between the villages of Drangan and Cloneen but closer to Drangan. It’s about 7km from Slievenamon. The land where the company wishes to develop the windfarm is owned by five local landlowners.
The company has the option to lease the land from these landowners if planning permission is granted for the project.
ABO Wind Ireland initially considered seeking permission for up to eight wind turbines but its investigations over the past few months has reduced its proposal to up to seven turbines.
ABO Wind Ireland began public consultation with the local community about its plans last December when its representatives called door-to-door to about 100 homes within a 1.5km radius of the proposed windfarm site and distributed information leaflets about the project to residents.
The company also at that time set up a website with information on the project. The website called www. knockroe-windfarm.com is where the virtual public exhibition about the proposed windfarm can be viewed.
The public exhibition went live yesterday (Tuesday, May 18) and can be accessed at any time at people’s convenience up to June 15.
The company says the exhibition gives the public the opportunity to give their feedback as well as view information about the proposed windfarm.
ABO Wind Ireland’s community liaison officer for the project Gary Magee points out there is an interactive element to the exhibition that allows ABO Wind Ireland project team members to be online while the community are reviewing the proposals and instantly answer their questions.
The first of these opportunities for ABO Wind Ireland staff to interact directly with the local community through the public exhibition was between 6pm and 8pm on Tuesday. ABO Wind Ireland staff will also be available online to answer any questions about the project this Thursday, May 20 from 6pm to 8pm.
Mr Magee said for those unable to view the proposals during these times, contact details for ABO Wind staff are provided on the website that will allow the public to get in touch with them.
Cloneen based Fine Gael Cllr Mark Fitzgerald has welcomed the virtual public consultation exhibition.
But he reiterated his call on the company to organise public meetings in the communities that will be impacted if this wind farm goes ahead once Covid-19 restrictions are eased sufficiently to allow such gatherings.
“I think once restrictions are eased we need to push for public meetings in all the villages to give everyone a chance to have their say. This is such a massive development and everyone is entitled to have their say,” he told The Nationalist.
Mr Magee responded that in normal circumstances ABO Wind Ireland would facilitate traditional “town hall style” events to present and discuss its proposals with the local community.
But in the context of the ever changing and uncertain landscape that surrounds the Covid-19, pandemic, the company did not at this time think it would be feasible to host such an event for the Health and Safety of the local community, ABO staff and all those involved.
“This is consistent with the approach taken by many other applicants, including state bodies during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
“While the virtual public exhibition is obviously a step change from traditional exhibition events, it will still allow us to present our proposals in a detailed and safe manner to the local community.
“It will be capable of being accessed from either a desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone device, providing residents with the ability to review the proposals via a variety of platforms.
“It is a difficult time for all and a change to how things would be done normally but we’ve been working hard to ensure we make the exhibition accessible so we can engage with the community in as safe a manner as possible while we battle with the uncertainty of the pandemic,” he added.