The following is a statement from Bruree-Charleville-Effin Wind Farm Action Group regarding a proposed windfarm for the area.
A huge 9-turbine wind farm is being proposed between Charleville town and Bruree village, with a planning application to be lodged directly to An Coimisiún Pleanála as soon as August or September this year. The windfarm, called Garrane Green Energy, is being proposed by Greensource Ltd. The development is to cover a large area east of the N20 in the townlands of Creggane, Ballynagoul and Garrane. As such, it will stretch across parts of three parishes – Ballyagran-Colmanswell, Effin and Bruree – and be very close to Charleville.
The turbines will be 169-172m in height, making them some of the tallest ever constructed in Ireland. This is almost four times the height of Charleville Church. It is also c.44m taller than the Ballyhoura wind turbines and c.20m taller than the two recently-erected turbines in Rathnacally, west of Charleville Show Grounds. Garrane Green Energy wind farm will therefore tower over not only rural houses, but also the town of Charleville and the village of Bruree.
Furthermore, there are major concerns about the noise impacts of such a large wind farm, with dozens of houses less than 1km from the wind turbines, and hundreds within 2km. People will also have questions about increased flood risk, especially at Creggane Bridge on the N20, given that a significant part of the wind farm is to be built in a Flood Zone A (the highest category flood risk nationally). All of this can be expected to have an impact on the valuation of properties in the area, with a University of Galway study from 2023 showing an average 14.7% reduction in property value close to wind turbines.
Construction for Garrane Green Energy windfarm, if it is approved, is expected to take place over 12-18 months, according to the developer Greensource. This will cause a huge increase in heavy traffic in the area, with thousands of loads of stone and readymix concrete needing to get to the site to construct 9 turbine bases, two bridges, 5km of internal roadways, cabling and a large 110kv substation in Ballinagoul, near Garrienderk. This will lead to increased traffic on the N20, an already busy and dangerous national primary route, as well as through Bruree village, and Garrienderk and Charleville. Especially badly affected will be the L-1537 road which runs by Bruree House through Garroose, Ballynagoul, Ballincolly and Garrienderk.
Community consultation has started extremely late and there has been very little of it. Preparation for this wind farm has been ongoing for a number of years (Garrane Green Energy Ltd. was formed in May 2023), but the developer only announced the project to local residents this April and they have said that they expect to submit a planning application now in August or September – only 5 months after announcing the project!
Many local residents are in the dark about what is happening, and it is not clear how many people in Bruree, Effin-Garrienderk and the Creggane/Charleville areas are actually aware of this massive development.
In response, a number of local residents have recently started a Bruree-Charleville-Effin Wind Farm Action Group to create greater awareness about the impending planning application and demand that our concerns about noise levels, traffic and landscape impact are properly addressed. Ireland needs a green transition but it also needs to be a just transition which treats communities with respect. If you also have concerns about this development and want to take action, we ask you to urgently let us know at bcewindaction@gmail.com and follow us on our Facebook page – Bruree Charleville Effin Wind Farm Action Group. The developer, Green-source, can be reached at info@garranegreenenergy.ie and a map of turbine locations can be found at garranegreenenergy.ie.