The Court of appeal has concluded the development of the Meenbog Wind Farm is unauthorised on the basis that a number of planning deviations were made.
The developers of the wind farm, Planree Limited and Mid-Cork Electrical Limited appealed a High Court decision prohibiting the carrying out of the further development of the site.
The Court of Appeal was asked to determine whether the presence of material deviations from the granting of planning permission on foot of which Meenbog Wind Farm has been constructed, renders the entire development unauthorised or merely those elements of it which do not conform to the planning permission.
Construction works of the 19-wind turbine development commenced in November 2019.
Work continued on the site until 12th November 2020 when a major peat slide occurred which caused environmental damage to a local river and stream.
Ms. Justice Butler says it seems that from a relatively early stage, problems emerged due to the instability of the peat covering the site with a number of peat slides occurring within the first twelve months.
25 material planning deviations were made during on site works.
Justice Butler ruled that the presence of unauthorised works in the form of material deviations from a grant of planning permission in the as-built development will render the entire development unauthorised.
The full report is available here
