Longford residents raise concerns over health and visual impact of planned solar farm

Concerns over the long-term health impact and visual impact fears have been raised by a group of local people over a proposed new county Longford solar farm.

Foigha Solar Farm Limited, a subsidiary of BayWa r.e. Ireland has submitted a planning application to develop a solar farm on a 130-hectare site in the townlands of Cornacarta, Doonacurry, Foygh, Kilcommock Glebe, Ledwithstown and Tirlickeen.

Foigha Solar Farm will have the capacity to supply about 19,000 homes and the application is currently at pre-validation stage.
The proposed project will have all underground cabling with an energy storage system and solar panels with a typical height of 2.44 metres.

The development will include a substation and underground cable connection to the existing Lanesboro-Mullingar overhead line.

PICTURES | Electric atmosphere as renowned Longford pub reopens under new ownership

The company said the annual 15-year community benefit fund of €175,000 will 'provide dependable long-term funding to individuals and groups in the local community'.

A community engagement event was held on December 11 and there was some positive reaction to the event from some people in the surrounding areas, however, other locals in close proximity to the site are concerned.

The company said the project is a 40 year development and the farm will then be decommissioned.

Damien McHugh, from Doonacurry, who lives very close to the proposed solar farm with sections of it firmly within his view, said he is not against solar farms.

The father of two, in his late-40s, built his house in 2003 and he has lived in the area all of his life.

PICTURES | And the Oskar goes to Fr Manning Gaels! Memorable night as Longford club embraces red carpet glitz

"I just think there is a place for it and I don't think this is it. The close proximity to the houses (is the issue), if I look out there will be nothing but solar panels," he added.

Mr McHugh has known about the proposed project for three years. He stated one of the main concerns is the possible health risks associated with it and there is "no point in 10 years if people start getting sick" talking about it then.

"We are so close to it and this is a relatively new technology and I don't know if there is much known about it," Mr McHugh said. "They will tell you that there are no effects off it but if you have so many hundreds of acres covered in panels and you have a substation and you have a battery storage unit what are the long term effects?”

He asked the company to visit him at his house and they did several times, however, he stated there are people close to him and "they have never stood at their doorstep". Mr McHugh claimed some people did not know a thing about it until the communication engagement on December 11, which he believes is wrong.

"The last time I heard about this was a year ago and I thought it had gone away because I had not heard anything in a long time and I got a leaflet in the door recently informing me about the engagement meeting in Kenagh."

Also read: Proposed new county Longford solar farm will have capacity to supply about 19,000 homes

Mr McHugh said he is in close proximity to the proposed solar farm with sections of it firmly within his view from his house and the community fund does not take his concerns away.

"You would welcome it (in other circumstances). We have lots of wasteland around the area," he said. "I rang the council because they said we can have a look at the planning and the details of what is involved."

Mr McHugh stated he has a certain amount of environmental questions.

"My house is facing north and they (the solar farm) face south so there's bound to be a reflection or glare off them," he said. "I won't know until I see the planning application."

Mr McHugh said the company has spoken about screening the solar farm off but he has reservations.

"If you put hedging there all you're doing is putting a fence around it so my house will be surrounded by an eight-to 10 foot fence," he said. "They are also talking about sowing trees that will grow up to 12 or 15 feet but that will take a lot of years so you are going to be looking at that for a long time."

Mr McHugh said the company told him based on studies carried out in Germany, the US and UK solar farms did not devalue houses, but he stated in those big counties they can "go off hundreds of miles away from houses".

Meanwhile, Damien Mulvihill, from the Ledwithstown area who lives within about 300 metres of the proposed solar farm, said he has several concerns.

The self-employed plumber and father of two stated "most people in the area" did not know anything about the project until three or four weeks ago. He is on a WhatsApp group with other people who he said are 'opposed' and he believes residents in over 100 houses are impacted.

"I'm going to be looking at it for the next 40 years and we don't understand enough about the glare off it and what negative effects there are from it," he said. "There are parts where this site is proposed, if you are at a certain elevation in the Tirlickeen area, you can see across to Lough Ree and now all you will see is this mass of black solar panels. It is taking from the area."

Mr Mulvihill stated 'all the boxes were ticked' by the company at the community engagement.

However, he believes they did not have sufficient advance notice to have a lot of questions prepared as they only had 'five days notice'.

"This has come on us very quickly and now we are in the Christmas period and everything is shut down," he said. "There are roughly 380 solar farms at different stages of planning and some are being developed and there is no regulation in the country at the moment for what standards they have to meet."

Some of Mr Mulvihill's concerns include uncertainty over the effects of "glint and glare on local residents, noise vibrations, EMS (Electromagnetic spectrum)".#

Mr Mulvihill said it is a prime agricultural area and he believes the ideal location for the solar farm is on "redundant Bord na Móna' bogland.

"I live with my wife, one of my children has moved out and I have a four year old son who is on the autism spectrum and he is very sensitive to noise and they have said there will be some noise generated during construction and more from inverters and transformers as well," he added.

Meanwhile, Kieran Ledwith, a married father from the Foigha area, said he is not completely against the solar farm but he does have a number of concerns. Kieran, who lives across the road from the proposed site and around 60 metres away, raised his concerns at the public engagement meeting.

"The first one is the visual impact, they said they were going to grow the hedges to 2.5 metres, but I live in a two-storey and that is not going to cover the view from the three bedrooms facing the road and they acknowledged that," he added.

Mr Ledwith stated his second concern is in relation to the construction and he has queried the route the trucks bringing the stones in will come from.

"Are they going to come over Foigha bridge, which I doubt it as it was constructed quite a while ago, which means they are going to come in from the Kenagh-Ballymahon road which is a small road," he said. "Cars currently have to stop to let each other past."

Also read: Longford solar farm will have capacity to power over 15,000 homes

Kieran said his third concern is in relation to noise from transformers which he believes may be an issue, particularly as he is living so close to the site.

Alison Murphy, a Community Liaison Officer with BayWa r.e. Ireland Ltd said the project team were delighted to have a strong turnout from members of the local community throughout the course of the evening on December 11.

"It was important to get the design of the project to a point where it was ready to be presented to the community in a clear and transparent manner," she said. "There was particular interest in the community benefit fund and local authority rates that would be associated with the solar farm should it be successful in planning."

She stated these benefits will provide valuable support for local groups, initiatives, and essential services, reinforcing the positive impact this project can have on the surrounding community.

"As with most projects of this nature, some members of the local community had questions regarding the visual impact, noise, glint and glare, health concerns and traffic and transport associated with the proposed solar farm," she said.

"We did our best to address any concerns raised by residents and provided a number of photomontages and maps for attendees to view on the night. These matters have been fully addressed in detail and are available to view in the planning application which has been submitted to Longford County Council.”