(Article) Plan for Galway power plant rejected

PLANS TO build a 200 MW gas turbine power station in east Galway have been rejected by Galway County Council.
The application by Constant Energy Ltd for a plant at Cashla, near Athenry, Co Galway, would be “contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”, the local authority said. It would also be“contrary to the objectives and policies as set out in the Galway County Development Plan”, it added.
The decision has been welcomed by Galway West TD Noel Grealish, who is based close to the Galway East constituency.
“This was a controversial application from the beginning and I am delighted that Galway County Council has taken the concerns of local people on board,” Mr Grealish said yesterday. The plan had elicited almost 400 objections, “the highest ever received by Galway County Council”, he noted.
“It was my opinion that this gas-powered plant was totally unsuitable for such a densely populated area and also given its proximity to local schools in Lisheenkyle, Carnmore and Cregmore,” he said.
“The plant posed many potential risks to public health, the environment and livestock in the area.” The developer of the project, Joe Hodgins, former manager of ESB’s Moneypoint coal-fired power station, had argued that the plant would not pose a health risk. However, objections to the plan included a protest last March by 200 schoolchildren, teachers and parents outside the council’s offices.
Lisheenkyle primary school principal Ann Keary said yesterday the decision elicited a “palpable sigh of relief” in the locality.
“If this issue is revisited, we will most definitely re-enter the debate and lobby strongly to keep this unnecessary development out of our school catchment area,” she said.
Galway West TD Frank Fahey (FF) and Senator Fidelma Healy Eames (FG) also backed residents’ protests. Mr Fahey, who said he had submitted an objection, claimed “the company had not engaged in proper consultation with the local community and local residents are vehemently opposed to it”.
The “peaking” power plant was designed to work with wind energy in providing back-up supply when wind power is intermittent.
Residents’ group People before Profit argued that the proposed plant would be located in a heavily populated rural area, with 500 to 1,000 households and four primary schools in a three-mile radius.
Mr Hodgins’s company, Constant Energy Ltd, could not be contacted yesterday for comment. The company is also reported to be interested in developing a gas turbine power plant at the former ESB power station in Bellacorick, Co Mayo.
Plans by Rolls Royce to convert the peat-fired power station into a gas power plant which would link into the Corrib gas field were abandoned some years ago.