loyatemu wrote: » guess who's back:http://wicklownews.net/2019/03/concerns-as-objection-lodged-against-arklow-data-centre/
marno21 wrote: » Confirmed by ABP today it is the same guy:http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/303938.htm
plodder wrote: » Supreme Court rejects appeal by residents over Apple data hall approval The end of a saga that really put Ireland Inc in a fairly piss poor light. Years after the project was canned (because of the delay), we finally get a decision that there wasn't much to complain about in the first place. I suppose the best that can be hoped for is that the courts will make quicker decisions in future and the Supreme Court will simply refuse to hear similar objections.
Sam Russell wrote: » I think it is time to make ABP the last point where a project can be stopped - after that, court action only decides the compo that is payable, and those that do not qualify for compo cannot continue.
Deleted User wrote: » Ridiculous notion
M50Jct15 wrote: » Hardly. We seriously need to clip the wings of the legal/planning nexus. It is a leech on the body politic. :mad:
Deleted User wrote: » See robbos answer
CatInABox wrote: » What we need is more funding at all points on the process. ABP, the courts, every single part of the planning process is underfunded and neglected. Increasing funding would reduce the length of time all of these court cases takes.
snotboogie wrote: » The much lauded Denmark data centre is in trouble now too: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252461815/Construction-halted-at-Apple-datacentre-in-Denmark-over-alleged-contractor-dispute-report-suggests
The report goes on to claim the shutdown is the result of Apple cancelling its construction contract with Irish engineering firm Exyte, over a series of missed deadlines.
M50Jct15 wrote: » There are many things can be done without cutting off all court access. Abolish third-party objections for starters.
Sam Russell wrote: » The access to the courts should continue, but the remedy should be financial, not stopping the project. Now at what point this restriction comes into play needs to be discussed and legislated for, but in principle, an objector would have to demonstrate a financial interest, and a potential loss. The proposed scheme should achieve approval by, say ABP, and then with a possible appeal to a higher planning appeals board (maybe a ministerial based appeal) but on a restricted basis. If an appeal to court, then only financial remedy is possible. The idea that projects can be appealed at every level and must wait until the Supreme Court adjudicates means that many projects die before they get there.
Deleted User wrote: » Again it appears that the issue is resources in the courts. Preventing due process simply because there is not enough staff is not addressing the issue.
Sam Russell wrote: » The delay in passage through the courts is a problem but not one I was addressing. The problem with appeals to planning decisions is the lack of requirement for a legal standing of the appellant - they could be anybody and do not have to demonstrate their interest - or even that they have one. It appears that some appellants take that action 'because they can' - which is a serious problem. The system of appeals to ABP needs some filtering system to remove the frivolous actions.
Greaney wrote: » The latest article from The Irish Times seems to sum up the local objectors issues with the Apple Data Centre.
bk wrote: » It is a bs argument. Data Centers are going to get built somewhere. You are on boards.ie now, the page you are viewing was sent from a data center. Got a smart phone in your pocket? Almost everything it does, goes through a data center. Ireland is a good location for these datacenters. Our temperate climate means that less cooling is needed, which means less energy used straight off. Then there is the fact that Irelands electricity grid is becoming cleaner and cleaner every year as more wind farms are built and now even two new battery storage announced this week. I see no reason why Ireland can't be 100% renewable energy in the next 15 to 20 years. Build lots of wind farms and back them up with battery and interconnector to France. The power used by these data centers then becomes completely irrelevant. Articles should be written about why we aren't pushing faster to renewable energy. Why we are still messing around trying to re-open dirty peat stations and Moneypoint.
bk wrote: » It is a bs argument. Data Centers are going to get built somewhere. You are on boards.ie now, the page you are viewing was sent from a data center. Got a smart phone in your pocket? Almost everything it does, goes through a data center. Ireland is a good location for these datacenters. Our temperate climate means that less cooling is needed, which means less energy used straight off.
I see no reason why Ireland can't be 100% renewable energy in the next 15 to 20 years. Build lots of wind farms and back them up with battery and interconnector to France.
[Deleted User] wrote: » 2) Interconnector to France isn't feasible. France already exports all current extra power generation and plans on reducing nuclear generation over the next two decades.
Deleted User wrote: » Just to clarify, the interconnector to France is happening and its not French electricity that its connecting to, its the European gridhttp://www.eirgridgroup.com/newsroom/funding-secured/
[Deleted User] wrote: » I would have thought my grammar and point was clear that 'an interconnector to France to provide us with their cheap, clean nuclear fuel' wasn't feasible ��
Deleted User wrote: » I replied to the point you made. Not my fault if you didn't say what you meant
That's that for a data center in Athenry, the permission extension has been quashed, costs awarded against GCC and the govt in favour of the complainants
PRESS RELEASE
ECO-ADVOCACY
WEDNESDAY 25 MAY 2022
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Galway Apple Data Centre permission extension quashed
The High Court has quashed the decision of Galway County Council to allow a further 5 years for Apple to construct eight data halls on a 202 hectare site on un-zoned and un-serviced rural lands at Derrydonnell, Athenry, County Galway.
The challenges by the NGO Eco-Advocacy and resident Allan Daly follows on rulings by both the European Court of Justice and the Aarhus Compliance Committee that Ireland’s planning laws undermine European Environment law in allowing extension to planning permissions without public participation.
The judgment found that Galway County Council failed to assess extending the period originally set for carrying out the project which is required to be preceded by an assessment of its implications under EU legislation which also requires public participation.
Kieran Cummins, a Director of Eco-Advocacy, said their submission on the extension was returned with the €20 fee by Galway County Council in July 2021. It was this decision that was quashed in the High Court this week.
‘The EU legislation specifically requires ‘an assessment of other plans or projects’, Mr. Cummins said. ‘In the 6 years since this application was made Ireland’s data centres have grown from 5% to consuming 14% and are now projected to require 30% of Ireland’s energy by 2030. The permission should have been reassessed in the light of this new landscape.’
Mr. Cummins, who addressed the recent annual ‘Law and the Environment Conference’ at University College Cork on the subject of Data Centres, said that ‘This case is a perfect example of why large-scale planning permissions should not be extended without public participation and fresh evaluation. What was attempted here was to use a loophole that allowed Apple to avoid the current policy of refusal by Eirgrid to take new applications.’
Minister Eamon Ryan confirmed that policy yesterday, telling RTE that ‘We haven’t taken a new application for a new data centre going back almost two years to July 2020’.
In his address, Mr. Cummins cited a 2019 Report by the Irish Academy of Engineering (IAE) who ‘have estimated data centre expansion will require almost €9bn in new energy infrastructure and add at least 1.5m tonnes to Ireland’s carbon emissions by 2030 – a 13% spike on current electricity sector emissions.’
‘Most countries are seeing their electricity demand stagnate or decline as their populations are stagnant or decreasing while energy efficiency is increasing. This compares with Ireland where we are seeing our electricity demand increase’, he told the Conference.
Cost were awarded against Galway County Council and against Ireland and the Attorney General, 50% to be paid by each party to Eco Advocacy and to Mr. Daly. No order was made in relation to the costs of the notice party, Apple Distribution International Limited
High Court Record Number Number 2021/812JR
Some additional information around the quashing of the permission for the data center.
Apple will have to put in a completely fresh planning application if they are to sell the site as a data center site
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://w6.vanillicon.com/v2/62877c35768f143f69acd7bb6cd43f3c.svg)
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://w6.vanillicon.com/v2/6d8a632a9fb85629e1cafb0fd27003c4.svg)