An Taisce has added its voice to calls for the ESB and Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council to stop the rerouting of a power line from a new private golf course through a Coillte woodland in South Dublin.
The parks department in Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council recommended the alignment of the line, planned for over Carrickgollogan Hill in Ballyman, should be reconsidered before it was given planning permission.
The planner's report on the application to reroute the line stated consideration should be given to "alternative, less visually obtrusive routes and the possibility of undergrounding part of the lines".
The original plan for the Ballyman course, which is being built as part of a land swap deal with Dún Laoghaire Golf Club, included putting the lines underground at a cost of €3.5 million.
Club members were told the ESB was "unwilling" to bury the cables. It is not known how much the over land rerouting cost.
Ms Maireád Mehigan, Chairwoman of Dún Laoghaire An Taisce, said the works contradict the Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Development Plan stated objective of seeking a Special Amenity Area Order for Carrickgollogan.
Meanwhile, a newly formed organisation, Friends of Carrickgollogan, has called on Dún Laoghaire Golf Club members to lobby their committee to have the lines buried underground.
A spokesman for the ESB said that they had initially considered undergrounding the cables but had ruled that out because of the topography of the area.
