PLANS have been lodged for a wind farm near Bantry with campaigners opposed to the project claiming there are ‘major contradictions’ in the proposal.

Maughanaclea Ltd, a subsidiary of Cork-based Enerco, lodged plans for 14 turbines, some reaching a height of 169m, across the Maughanaclea Hills.

Grassroots campaign group Stop The Spin is urging people to study the plans before the May 25th submission deadline for objections to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

Spokesperson Noelle Aller Ontalba said the key issue was ‘a disconnect between the overall presentation and the impacts described deeper in the documents’.

The group says a review of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report showed a number of contradictions.

‘Repeatedly, the documents soften the headline message while the underlying text accepts real differences, real uncertainty and major change across a sensitive rural area of West Cork,’

Mrs Aller Ontalba said. One of the main concerns is drinking water.

The application states no private wells were identified within 5km of the site, but also admits the national well database was incomplete and assumes there could be wells downhill.

The group says this is a serious contradiction, especially after the HSE advised a walkover survey should be carried out to identify wells.

There is no clear evidence such a survey was done, the campaigners say.

Environmental impacts are another focus.

While the application claims effects were avoided by design, it also acknowledges habitat loss and degradation, including peatland and heath.

Stop The Spin questions why offsetting and restoration would be needed if impacts were avoided in the first place, as stated in the plans.

‘If the important habitats were truly avoided, why is the offsetting needed at all?’ 

Mrs Aller Ontalba said.

‘That is not avoiding loss. That is admitting loss and then promising to make up for it later.’

Opponents point out similar inconsistencies in the bird survey.

Although described as ‘robust’, official feedback included in the report warns that assessments for species such as the white-tailed eagle must contain no gaps or uncertainty, especially because the turbines would be placed on ridges.

The landscape assessment, which says the area can accommodate the turbines and that their visibility is limited, has been queried by campaigners.

The same section records significant visual impacts at several viewpoints and notes that 57% of surveyed roads have little or no screening.

Heritage impacts were also flagged. The report identifies a significant negative effect on one cultural site and several moderate impacts on archaeological features, which campaigners say sits uneasily alongside suggestions of modest overall impact.

Overall, the group argues the application relies too heavily on future mitigation, monitoring and management rather than demonstrating that harm has been avoided.

It also warns of a number of wind farm proposals for the region.

This month, council planners granted conditional permission for Derrenacrinnig West wind farm on the far side of the Mealagh valley close to Castle Donovan.

‘This is no longer about a single isolated wind farm development, it is about the real concern of cumulative impact, turning wild rural areas across West Cork into an industrialised zone on a massive scale,’ Stop The Spin stated.

The group says Cork and Kerry have more wind farm development than anywhere else in Ireland, yet developers continue to target their unspoilt rural lands.

The campaign also points to a recent UCC study, commissioned by Friends of the Earth, detailing how between 2017 and 2023 all additional wind farm energy generated in Ireland was absorbed by data centres.

‘If water supplies, landscape, heritage, biodiversity and quality of life across West Cork are not protected and these industrial zones are allowed to be built, there will be no going back,’ Mrs Aller Ontalba said.

Enerco Energy was contacted for comment.