Waterford locals willing to take developers to court over data centre
The proposed site layout for the development, subject to planning, as created by AWN Consulting Ltd. This shows the scale of what is proposed for Kilmeaden.
A group of concerned residents gathered outside Dungarvan City Council's offices to protest a number of planning applications for large solar farms in the Waterford region.
Niall Power is not a man willing to compromise. Born and bred in Kilmeaden, having lived there all his life, he is willing to go to court to protect his village, which prides itself on tradition and stability, whilst the rest of the world moves ever faster.
He told the : “You’re better off moving it to somewhere where it's not so scenically beautiful. Wind turbines 1,200 feet tall, why would you bother putting them on the Copper Coast? And then add all these giant solar panels, which are rented. The land is rented so when they’re done, it's up to you to dispose of them.
“A data centre in Kilmeaden. I never heard of anything so absurd in my entire life.”
Mr. Power told the that if the Council approves the planning application, he will take the developers to court.
Cllr. Declan Clune said: “There’s no national regulations. You have 31 local authorities with 31 different sets of rules. There’s no standardised framework.
“The primary motivation for this is not green energy or renewables. It’s money. It’s profit.
“The crumbs on the table are a creche and a running track.”
Mr. Power agreed, saying, “There’s already two creches in Kilmeaden.
“If they want to build that stuff, they’re more than welcome. There’s loads of space where they’re planning on putting a data centre. Put your community centre there. Everyone would get behind that. Not a giant data centre for greed.”
Community organisers from Kilmeaden and Portlaw have joined forces as both communities face large-scale developments in their rural areas.
“We decided to share the knowledge,” said Cllr. Clune.
He added: “There’s an awful lot of people who would have moved out from the city to these areas for the rural lifestyle. Now they’re confronted with this.”
One of the issues the groups highlighted was a lack of community consultation.
With the high-road development in Portlaw, the developers did go door to door but according to Cllr. Clune, “It was a box-ticking exercise. They took nothing on board.”
The community were not consulted in Kilmeaden.
Brian Kenny, one of the leaders of the ‘Kilmeaden Says No’ group, said one data centre is nearly the same size as the Clochán housing development.
Mr. Kenny is also a born and bred Kilmeaden man.
He told the News & Star: “I would have hoped they’d put more houses in Kilmeaden so my kids could one day buy a house here. And more services for the community.”
This week Waterford City and County Council issued a response to the Kilmeaden development planning application requesting more information. Many of the requests made are to do with the social and environmental impact that the development will have on the area.
