(Outside the Oral Hearings at the Nuremore Hotel, Carrickmacross prior to presenting the SF submission were L-R Cllr. Noel Keelan, mise, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD, Simon Allen and Cllr. Jackie Crowe)
I was incredibly proud of the Sinn Féin presentation. It was professional, well researched and based of scientific fact. I hope it has made an impact.
I would like to say that we stole the show at yesterdays hearings. However, that honour belongs to Jim McNally, a resident along the route of the proposed interconnector. Jim made a passionate and detailed case against the project. Put simply he was outstanding - Maith Thú Jim!
It is important to acknowledge the huge community effort that has been invested against the plans of EirGrid and NIE throughout the five affected counties. The companies seriously underestimated the level of opposition they would encounter. At often huge personal cost, financial and otherwise, community representatives have challenged and matched the unlimited resources of the state's apparatus. We can only hope that An Bord Pleanála will do the right thing from a planning perspective and reject EirGrid's flawed planning application.
One way or another, the communities involved can be assured of the full support of Sinn Fein - the only party to have adopted, as policy, the position that all such electricity networks should be undergrounded.
My remarks to the oral hearing:
I wish to begin by thanking the inspector and the board for affording my party colleagues and I the opportunity to address this oral hearing.
I wish to also record my party’s view once again that developments such as this that will, one way or another, have a significant developmental impact on any county, should be subject to the planning process in that particular county. In this case Counties Monaghan, Meath and Cavan will be, in Sinn Féin’s view, subjected to development which will have a significant negative impact across an array of barometers that have been outlined in our submission and those of other organisations. Therefore I want to reiterate our opposition to the Strategic Infrastructure Act.
Nevertheless we are where we are and I am hopeful that An Bord Pleanála will accept the overwhelming arguments that have been articulated by united communities along the entire route of this proposed development, in opposition to the erection of overhead high voltage power lines and associated pylons.
From June 2008 until June 2009 I had the honour of being the Mayor of County Monaghan. In that capacity I visited almost every community in this county at one point or another. I can tell this forum, without fear of contradiction, that there is no issue that unites the people of Monaghan more than this. This is particularly the case in the South and Mid Monaghan areas that would be most directly impacted upon if An Bord Pleanála were to grant planning permission based on EirGrid’s current application.
A question of democracy has arisen. Monaghan County Council has unanimously adopted numerous motions in opposition to this application and in favour of the underground option for the inter-connector; so too has every municipal authority in the county; likewise every Oireachtas member from this constituency has issued statements in support of the local communities. Therefore the question must be asked; can and will An Bord Pleanála override the entire democratically elected opinion from any given county simply on an interpretation of government policy which in my mind, based on the statements of government Oireachtas members locally, is vague to say the least on the issue of underground versus overhead development of electricity networks.
I would like to deal broadly with the potential Environmental Impact of the proposed development.
The EIS presented by EirGrid has been described as containing ‘limited information’ by senior Monaghan County Council planners on matters of such importance as justification for the chosen route of the inter-connector. If the EIS fails to satisfy senior planners with regard to such a central matter then how can it possibly satisfy local communities with regard to wider Environmental concerns?
It is Sinn Féin’s contention that this application contravenes vital aspects of the County Development Plans of the three affected counties in this state. I want to refer to elements included in the Monaghan County Development Plan because that is the one that I am familiar with.
Policy ENV 2 of the Monaghan County Development Plan states that it shall be a priority of the Planning Process to “Protect the landscapes and natural environments of the county by ensuring that any new developments in designated sensitive rural landscapes do not detrimentally impact on the character, integrity, distinctiveness or scenic value of the area”.
Policy ENV 3 states that the Planning process will “Sustain, conserve, manage and enhance the landscape diversity, character and quality of the County for the benefits of current and future generations”.
There can be no doubt that a Pylon network which will literally divide County Monaghan in two will contravene both of these policies. The entire landscape character of County Monaghan will be changed forever. The outcome will be similar in Counties Cavan and Meath and indeed in Armagh and Tyrone if the NIE proposal were to be approved.
You will know from the Monaghan County Council submission that the local authority considers the environmental impact upon landscapes such as Drumlins, Upper Farmland, Lakelands and other uplands to be in many cases significant. In many instances the Sensitivity of Local Landscape affected by this proposed development has been characterised as ‘High’ while the significance of the visual impact of the development has been characterised as ‘Major’ in many areas.
The proposed development will directly and adversely affect the settings of at least eleven lakes and their environs in County Monaghan alone. As well as that, in a number of instances the development is proposed to be located between the road and the lake contravening a further policy, ENV 15 of the Monaghan County Development Plan.
You will have learned from the Monaghan County Council submission that the EIS has failed to properly assess the impact of the proposed development upon bio diversity in the vicinity of the proposed development and consequent mitigation measures have not been included. A statement, which was prepared by council officials (and not elected representatives) states: “It is apparent from the lack of detail provided, in particular for flora and ecology, that no botanical surveys were undertaken on the ground.
And “the habitat classifications provided on the maps and in the flora and fauna sections have not been elaborated upon, and are at a very general level. Cutover bog is often used as a broad term, although most of these sites are mosaic habitats with transition mire and secondary fen vegetation which should be recorded. Lakes are recorded as simply lakes with no reference to their fringing and surrounding habitats.
And: “no species lists for any site are provided. No detail on protected flora is provided”.
And alarmingly: “Some of the detail regarding “status” of sites has been incorrectly transcribed from Monaghan County Council reports, to give a lower importance to sites. For example Corlea Bog, page 99 vol 2B, is stated to have been identified in the Fen Survey of Monaghan “….as a diverse site of high local value. This is a C status.” The Monaghan Fen Survey actually rated this site to be of National Importance, of B status. This cutover bog site (7.7ha) has 3.4ha of transition mire, and a species protected by the Flora Protection Order”.
What does it say about the professionalism of an EIS that a point of such environmental significance could be “mistaken”? This point, as much as any other, in my view, warrants the dismissal and refusal of this application.
But there are other environmental concerns which have been reported to this oral hearing which we in Sinn Féin share. Included among these are issues relating to the noise impact and pollution, lack of information relating to displaced material associated with this development and its impact on waste management considerations, the impact upon surface and groundwater and the lack of a flood risk assessment in the EIS.
I want to put on the record Sinn Féin’s endorsement of the section in the Monaghan County Council submission entitled “comments by elected members”.
In that submission prepared by Monaghan County Council the elected members identified 25 policies in the Monaghan County Development Plan which this proposed development contravenes. 21 of those policies are in the chapter of the development entitled “Environment and Heritage”.
If any individual or organisation in Counties Cavan, Monaghan or Meath submitted an application to their local authority that contravened a single policy they would encounter severe difficulties in the planning process regardless of the so-called ‘greater good’ that they would be accommodating. But if they contravened several policies of a County Development Plan they would be refused in record time. If they had the nerve to appeal to An Bord Pleanála they would, I don’t doubt, again be refused.
An Bord Pleanála should do the right thing according to proper and sustainable planning in this instance. They should reject this development and send EirGrid back to their experts to draft a new application that considers, in a meaningful way, the environmental impact of their proposals. An Bord Pleanála should also, in my view, recommend that EirGrid give serious consideration to the option of undergrounding the inter-connector, as I don’t believe they have thus far.
