Councillors in the Comeragh Municipal District Council used their recent monthly meeting to welcome the council’s decision to refuse planning permission for a data centre development in the village of Kilmeaden.
The opposition from residents brought the issue to national prominence.
The refusal is within the appeal window, meaning the decision can still be appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Waterford Council’s decision to refuse planning permission was first raised by Cllr. Declan Clune, who said: “I just wanted to say I thought it was the right decision and I strongly welcome it. The decision is a major victory for the local community.
“Over 500 observations were submitted by concerned residents, and full credit belongs to the people in Kilmeaden. They organised and they ran a respectable, determined and highly effective campaign, they deserve enormous credit for what they achieved.
“But the wider issue of large-scale developments in rural communities remains,” he continued. “I want to raise my concerns about the growing concentration of proposed solar farms in the Kilmeaden area. There is currently another active planning application for a solar farm in Kildermody, and when I look at the amount of solar farms proposed for what is a relatively small geography area.
“My concern is not the need solar energy itself, we all recognise the importance of the renewable energy, my concern is about the scale, concentration and culminative impact on one rural community.”
Cllr. Clune made the interesting point that these kinds of applications should not be assessed individually, as is the norm, but should be judged relative to each other so that the full effect of the developments can be judged.
“We can’t continue to assess each application in isolation without properly considering the combined impact on agricultural land, the rural landscape, neighbouring homes, local roads, and the people who live in these communities,” he said.
Cllr. Clune also highlighted that he would submit a motion to the next Plenary council meeting to halt any further data centre developments until the government publishes national guidelines.
A SIGH OF RELIEF
Cllr. John O’Leary followed these comments by saying the decision came as a ‘sigh of relief’ for the people of Kilmeaden.
“I want to welcome the decision by the planning department in Waterford Council,” he said. “It’s a sigh of relief from all the people living in Kilmeaden, who completely and utterly refuted this application. They could in no way see the benefit of a data centre to enhance the small rural village of Kilmeaden.
“It is their ambition, their wish, that Kilmeaden remain a setting and a village that is complementary to the existing village. There was in excess of 500 objections, and people often say that people with responsibility for planning don’t listen to the people, but on this occasion, I feel the planning section of Waterford Council certainly got this right.”
Cllr. O’Leary also said that Kilmeaden itself cannot be forgotten now that this development has been refused.
“There has been a lot of house building in Kilmeaden,” he continued. “Sometimes it sticks in my craw that 400-500 houses have been built but there have been no community facilities developed there.
“That is not right. I don’t blame that on the planning department, I blame that on the developer who decides not to enhance the area by not providing community facilities. A growing population with 400-500 houses being built, and young people do need to have some place to go.
“What I would say in the long-term in relation to a few data centres, they should be placed in industrial zoned areas, and they should be compliant to those kinds of areas. But for Kilmeaden I welcome the rejection of the proposal, and I hope that would be maintained at a national level.
“I do want to commend the people, the ran a very professional campaign, and I would complement them on that,” Cllr. O’Leary added.
Cllr. Liam Brazil followed up these comments and suggested that Kilmeaden needs a dedicated plan as it could become as big as some of Waterford’s towns.
“This thing was too big for a village the size of Kilmeaden,” commented Cllr. Brazil. “I do believe at this stage that Kilmeaden needs a village plan. I think there should be something done there, to give Kilmeaden a plan. I believe Kilmeaden is going to be as big as Tramore or Dungarvan one of these days. If there is no plan there then where are you going?
“At least if you have a plan, you can organise it and the public can have input into the plan as well.”
Some of the Kilmeaden residents who opposed the data centre are due to take part in national protests in Dublin which oppose data centre development. The demonstration is being organised by Friends of the Earth Ireland in association with community groups. To date over 85 groups from ten countries across Europe are participating.
Amanda Power from Kilmeaden explained: “Even though the data centre application in Kilmeaden has been refused, it could still be appealed, and our fight isn’t over”.
“If a development of this size and scale can be proposed for a small rural village like ours, then no community in Ireland is safe from facing the same situation. That’s why we’re calling for a national moratorium on new data centres until proper rules are put in place about where they can be built, how many we need, and whether our infrastructure can support them.”
The protest starts at 12 noon from the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin on Saturday, 7 November.
AARON KENT Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
