Environmentalist objects to €500m energy plant proposed for Rochfortbridge

Well known environmentalist Peter Sweetman has lodged a submission with Westmeath County Council objecting to Lumcloon Energy's plans to build a €500m battery storage facility and power plant outside Rochfortbridge.

Sweetman, who is one of the best known and most successful serial objectors in the country, states in his submission that Westmeath County Council has responsibilities under the EU's Habitats Directive and that the “planning authority does not have legal jurisdiction to give permission if it is not met”.

The Habitats Directive states that environmental assessments “cannot have lacunae and must contain complete, precise and definitive findings and conclusions capable of removing all reasonable and scientific doubt as to the effects of the works proposed on the protected site concerned”.

Over 60 objections have been lodged against the proposed development, according to the council's website.