*John Nally, Moira McMahon, Bob Enright, Kathleen McMahon, Ruth Enright, Ellen Curley, Mary Murphy and Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF). Photograph: Joe Buckley.
RESIDENTS of Drumline are clashing with Clare County Council and have taken their case to An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Clare County Council at the end of October granted planning permission to Drumline FlexGen Limited for a new development in Drumline, Newmarket-on-Fergus adjacent to the existing 110kV ESB substation but this decision has been appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Drumline FlexGen Limited’s development includes the addition of twelve hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) generators, six self-bunded HVO tanks, six self-bunded AdBlu tanks, an ESB compound connected to the existing substation, a fuel loading bay, a new road entrance off the R458. An Appropriate Assessment Screening Report has been prepared for the site while an industrial Emissions Directive (IED) licence is required for the development.
Permission was granted by the Council subject to eight conditions including the developer having to pay the Council a contribution of €18,958. All public service cables for the development including electrical and telecommunication cables are to be located underground throughout the site, all surface water generated within site boundaries is to be collected and disposed of to the surface water management system on site and not discharged to public sewer or onto public road or adjoining properties.
A finalised and updated construction environmental management plan to be submitted and agreed in writing to the planning authority before the commencement of the development. The applicant is to enter into connection agreements with Uisce Éireann to provide for a service connection to the public water supply and adhere to the conditions of that agreement. The construction hours are confined to between 07:00 to 19:00 from Monday to Friday and between 08:00 to 14:00 on Saturdays.
Local residents in Drumline are very unhappy with the decision by the Council. They are adamant the nearby Shannon Industrial Estate, located 600m away is a more suitable location. They argue that the land for the development is zoned for agricultural use and are annoyed that the developer used The Irish Examiner as opposed to local newspapers to place their planning notice.
William Normoyle is the owner of the land which where the generators will be built. He has given his consent to Drumline FlexGen Limited for the renewable energy generation facility.
Prior to the County Council giving the green light, 29 objections were received. Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) was the only elected representative to make a submission, “I wish to formally object to this development in this area. The scale of this is totally inappropriate near a residential area. As far as I am aware this area is not zoned for this type of development,” he stated in his objection.
An appeal has been compiled by Kilfenora civil engineer Michael Duffy on behalf of twenty seven residents in Drumline. This has been lodged with An Coimisiún Pleanála. The national planning body are to make their decision on the appeal in the spring of 2026.
Among the local residents involved in the appeal are Marinella Rafferty who was a Fine Gael candidate in the Shannon electoral area for the 2009 local elections, Bob Enright who managed Newmarket-on-Fergus to win a first Clare SHC title in 31 years when they defeated Cratloe, former Clare camogie player Caitriona McMahon and National co-ordinator of the GAA Future Leaders Programme, Eoghan Hanley.
Other residents to involved in the appeal include Eamon Curley, Patrick & Mary Murphy, Kate & Gearoid Calvey, Padraig & Paula Delaney, Arron Lynch, Ruaidhrí McInerney, Michael & Martina Byrne, Geraldine Enright, Brian Enright, Michele Ní Fhatharta, Gearoid McMahon, Leona Glennon, Tara Petticrew, Leo Quinlan, Leo & Nora Glennon, Seamus Hanley, Kathleen McMahon, Julieann Glennon and Maria Glennon.
Their third-party appeal submitted by Duffy is thirty seven pages long and was filed at a cost of €220. They argue that the decision to locate the generators in Drumline and not the Industrial Estate is a financial one. “The appellants have accepted the significant development of the M18 motorway and the contiguous Industrial Zone. They fundamentally believe that this industrial type development should be located on designated industrial zoned land as set out in the objectives of the CDP. In the alternative adjacent to any of dozens of electrical sub-stations associated with renewable energy throughout the county. This application is on unzoned agricultural land simply because it is significantly cheaper than a site across the motorway on zoned industrial land. That is not in accordance with plan-led development which is a principle function of the CDP”.
Duffy also flagged that no minutes have been produced of a pre-planning meeting between the developer and the planning authority. They cite reports by The Irish Times and the BBC on the potential impacts of HVO. “It would appear that a plaque has descended on all renewable energy applications whereby for no good or stated reason that invariably seek a ten year permission for the sake of it. The default permission is a five year permission and there is absolutely no reason why this should be granted a ten year permission when no specific reasons were given for it or the PA did not assess that requirement in its decision to give reasons for it. The CEMP submitted declares the construction stage of this project to be nine months”.
In a letter to An Coimisiún Pleanála from November 21st signed by Clare County Council senior planner, Anne Marie McCarthy, she stated, “Clare County Council respectfully requests that An Coimisiún Pleanála upholds the decision of the Planning Authority in this case”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, local resident John Nally said they were “very hopeful” their appeal would be successful. “We have no problem with the generating plant, it is the location that we’re concerned about, this is a residential area that many people have moved to for the peace, quiet and tranquillity of the area, the last thing we need is heavy goods vehicles delivering right beside our homes bringing noise and pollution, there will be pollution because no generator is 100 percent clean. Lots of people in the area are older, they have lung problems and we’re concerned that insufficient thought went into this and the correct location is the Industrial Estate which is 600m directly across the road from the site. We’re very disappointed with Clare County Council because we feel as local constituents that it was a done deal before we knew about it, it is sad really that there was no consultation with the local area”.
John himself moved to Drumline forty years ago. He worked as an air traffic engineer looking after radar at Shanon Airport for thirty two years. “The substation was here when I first came here, we’ve no problem with that because energy is important to everyone. We’ve no problem with a generating station, it is the location, the fact that while they say it is clean, I know there are several instances where very knowledgeable people have questioned the whole validity of the HVO procedure, a lot of this is palm oil and coming from the Far East in Malaysia, Indonesia and China, there is no oversight in those countries or someone to say it is waste oil, a lot of whistle-blowers have come forward to say they are rebadging normal oil as waste oil to get the financial benefits, that is a bigger story and one which has been written about extensively”.
He added, “We had very little time, far more people would have come forward but when we found out about the initial planning application, we had four days, I myself was unable to lodge an appeal, I tried online but given my age I’m eighty, I wasn’t able but I think there would have been far more people engaged had general knowledge been out there on what was planned”.
