new submission by 15th Feb 2024 – what is this all about?

Update from SML on 26th January 2024

Many people who made submissions to An Bord Pleanála will have received a letter from An Bord Pleanála saying that further submissions can be accepted by 15th February 2024 by 5.30pm. Along with the letter was a 3-page document  from the High Court noting that the ABP refusal had been quashed, and ‘that the appeal has now been reactivated’. 

The specific reason for the quashing is not clear. We understand that the development plan for Carlow Co Carlow changed before ABP made their decision, and that ABP  did not seek further input from Coillte/Futurenergy at that point.

However, because of the case being ‘quashed’, the current status is 

• that the case is REFUSED by Carlow County Council and that the ABP appeal has been reactivated 
• this means that An Bord Pleanála need to make a new inspector’s report to submit to the new board of An Bord Pleanála
• this new report will take into account all the submissions and observations that have been received to date on this project (the c.300 submissions to Carlow Co Co and the c. 150 observations to ABP). So, if you have submitted something already to Carlow Co Co or ABP, it is still valid and will be considered
• if you have received a letter from ABP, you are invited by ABP, to submit further relevant information if you wish, by 15th February 2024, by 5.30pm. Please send your submission to <appeals@pleanala.ie> or you may prefer to post your comments to An Bord Pleanála at 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, D01V902
• If you have not received a letter from ABP dated 19th Jan 2024, and you wish to submit a relevant comment, contact SML and we will do our best to include with our observation.
• the reference number of the proposed project is changed from ABP 309937-21 to a new number ABP 318705-23. Both numbers will get your submission to the file
• Useful links such as the Carlow Co Dev plan, the Climate Action plan and the EU regulation on ‘accelerating the deployment of renewable energy Dev 2022

On behalf of Save Mount Leinster, we are, unfortunately, not surprised that the Coillte Community Liaison Officer nor any member of the Coillte/Futurenergy team have notified people in the area about this stage of this proposed wind farm development project.