Moyvoughley windfarm proposal to bypass council planning process

A proposed windfarm development in South Westmeath has been classified as a 'strategic infrastructure development', which means the planning application for it will bypass Westmeath County Council and go directly to An Bord Pleanála.

The proposed project is for nine wind turbines, with a tip height of 185 metres, which would be located between Moyvoughley and Drumraney, around 2km from the village of Ballymore.

The 487 ha development site is centred on the townland of Umma More, and also includes the townlands of Ballynafearagh, Baskin High, Lissanode, and Umma Beg (Moneynamanagh).

In addition to the nine turbines, the project will involve an application for an underground grid connection which would generally follow the public road network, including passing under the M6 motorway, and would link the windfarm with the Thornsberry 110 kV substation outside Tullamore.

Umma More Ltd, an associated company of Cork-based firm Energo Energy Ltd, is behind the wind farm project and submitted an application to An Bord Pleanála in April to determine whether or not the windfarm would be considered a strategic infrastructure development.

In a decision this month, the planning board ruled in the affirmative. This means that An Bord Pleanála will handle the planning application for the development, which is expected to be submitted in the coming months.

The developer is holding two local information sessions on the project next week. These are taking place in Ballymore Community Centre on Wednesday, August 31, from 5pm to 8pm, and in Moyvoughley Community Hall next Thursday, September 1, also from 5pm to 8pm.

The developer said the information sessions were "open to all interested parties" and that "all information available to date in relation to the proposal" would be on display.

Project representatives "will be in attendance to answer any questions," it was added.

The Bord Pleanála inspector's report on the strategic infrastructure application described the site of the proposed windfarm as "a patchwork of fields, primarily for pasture, interspersed with commercial forestry."

It noted that a large working quarry was located adjacent to the northern boundary of the site, and that the R390, Ballymore to Athlone road, also ran along the site's northern boundary.

The report said the developer of the windfarm had confirmed to An Bord Pleanála that the nine proposed turbines would have "a generating capacity of above 50 Megawatts" of power.

The precise layout of the wind farm was "indicated but not defined" during a pre-application consultation between the developer and An Bord Pleanála, the inspector said, and he added that there was "little information on file with regard to detailed layout (of) the proposed development."

However, the inspector concluded that "having regard to the size, scale and location of the proposed wind farm," it met the criteria to be considered strategic infrastructure.

Board member Dave Walsh signed the direction classifying the project as strategic infrastructure on August 12.