Main pic: Drone footage of the November 2020 bog slide at the Meenbog Wind Farm.
Donegal County Council has refused planning permission for works linked to the controversial Meenbog Wind Farm that was the subject of a large bog slide in 2020.
Mid-Cork Electrical Ltd sought the go-ahead for the construction of three new culverts, to replace existing ones, along the N15 at Barnesmore Gap.
They were to be used to connect the wind farm, which is only partially completed, to the National Grid.
The site near Ballybofey was subject to a major landslide in November 2020.
Thousands of cubic metres of peat and debris entered into a stream and on to the Mournebeg River from the site of the wind farm on the Donegal-Tyrone border.
However, council planners this week refused permission for the latest application, stating it was ‘premature’ given ongoing legal proceedings.
Back in April, the local authority secured a High Court order prohibiting further development at the controversial site.
Mr Justice David Holland’s order restrains Planree Limited and Mid-Cork Electrical from finishing their ‘largely complete’ 19-turbine project on primarily blanket bog between Barnesmore Gap and Ballybofey, until further court order.
“Having regard to the rationale for the proposed works, that is to facilitate a grid connection to Meenbog Wind Farm, and to the current unauthorised nature of this large development that is subject of ongoing legal proceedings,” the planner’s decision stated, “the planning authority considers that to permit the proposed development would be premature and contrary to proper and sustainable planning.”
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