Fears of sleep deprivation if new wind farm goes ahead in Limerick
Council urged to seek advice from Environment Minister over turbines
LOCAL residents campaigning against a wind farm in their area have expressed fears over sleep deprivation.
Members of the Coolcappa Community Action Group joined a wider protest organised by the Communities and Environmental Protection Alliance (CEPA) to urge more robust wind farm regulations.
They marched to the gates of the Dail to protest against plans from Ballynisky Green Energy to build six turbines with an overall height of 158 metres near the village.
The Coolcappa Community Action Group pointed to a High Court judgement which stated: “There is not a binary choice to be made here between the generation of clean energy by a wind farm, and a good night’s sleep for its neighbours.”
Independent Ireland TD for Limerick Richard O’Donoghue agrees that families who live close to turbines struggle to sleep at night.
“Every time you see a wind turbine going around, think about the people from the counties here today,” he told protestors outside the Dail.
“I am not against wind turbines, however, I am against wind turbines that do not allow people to have a night’s sleep.”
A big ask of the action group from Coolcappa is for a review to be carried out of the guidelines around wind turbines, which are 20 years old.
The concerns were also raised at this month’s full local authority meeting by Fine Gael councillor Adam Teskey.
He believes the current guidelines and planning around wind farms does not match the World Health Organisation’s recommended noise levels.
To this end, he wants to see the council write to Environment Minister Eamon Ryan to seek advice on the kinds of remedies available to those people living within their shadow.