The High Court has overturned An Bord Pleanála’s decision to refuse planning permission for a wind farm in Co Cork in order to protect the habitat of the whooper swan.
Mr Justice Richard Humphreys also directed that the planning board must reconsider the application for permission to develop a six-turbine project on a 78-hectare site in Annagh, north Cork.
Annagh Wind Farm Ltd’s February 2021 application was refused by Cork County Council in December 2022. The council’s ecological inspection report stated the proposal would likely have a permanent significant negative effect on an area of high local biodiversity value. The report said approving the development would be contrary to the 2014 county development plan.
An Bord Pleanála upheld the refusal, saying it was not satisfied that the information before it enabled it to determine “beyond reasonable scientific doubt” that the proposed development would not have an adverse effect on the whooper swan, which is a species of conservation interest of the Kilcolman Bog Special Protection Area.
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The developer issued judicial review proceedings challenging the board’s decision.
In a judgment, Mr Justice Humphreys said a submission on the application was indirectly considered despite a direction that appears to state that the submission was not considered.
He said a failure to notify the developer about the submission was a breach of a section of the Planning and Development Act of 2000.
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