Meeting tomorrow on proposed solar farm near Duckett’s Grove

“NOW is the only way to put in a submission. Now is the only time to do it. Common sense will have to prevail.” The words of local engineer Fergal McGrath, who has organised a public meeting to outline his concerns about the planned development of solar projects near Duckett’s Grove.

In July, plans were lodged with the county council for a large solar farm in the vicinity of historic Duckett’s Grove. Lightsource Renewable Energy Ireland Limited is seeking planning permission for Solar PV Energy Development, along with an associated battery energy storage system (BESS) compound on a 132-hectare site at Straboe and Killerig.

While initially sought for a ten-year period, there is a proposed 40-year operational period. A final decision is due on 4 September, with submissions to the council being accepted until 14 August.

Speaking to The Nationalist ahead of tomorrow evening’s meeting, Fergal said: “Killerig is a small place, a crossroads, with Grange in the middle. It’s a typical village with one shop, one school, one pub and a closely-knit community built around the GAA club.” He says he started to notice plans for solar farms springing up in the area a couple of years ago and that they are growing in both size and scale.

“I contacted the Irish Farmers’ Association and it is their view that the farmer should be allowed to put whatever he likes in his field, and I don’t disagree with that, but there has to be some policy around this to control the extent of development. In Carlow, they seem to be gung-ho for the solar. This would be within half-a-kilometre of Duckett’s Grove and I’m not sure locals can grasp the extent of this” he said.

Far from nimbyism being at play, Fergal says that renewable energy is required to mitigate climate change.

“I’m in favour of development. I have six Guinness World Records in fuel efficiency, but we in Ireland are a tiny output of carbon emissions. I’m basically calling for policies to be put in place around the extent of these developments.” Fergal feels that by taking “prime agricultural land” out of use for such large-scale projects, “future generations are going to pay the price for this and we need to take a more long-term view”.

An informal meeting will take place tomorrow evening, Wednesday 7 August, in Walshe’s of Killerig at 7.30pm.