An Bord Pleanála has published its decision record on green energy project applications just days after a High Court judge accused it of effectively “sabotaging” the State’s compliance with climate commitments.
In a statement this week, the board said it has granted planning permission to about two thirds of the 69 wind and solar applications it determined in the last two years.
It said it approved 47 wind and solar development applications in 2023 and 2024 and refused permission for 21 proposals. Just one of these refusals was for a solar project while the rest were wind energy developments. The board also partially permitted one other wind energy project.
Most of the refusals were for multiple reasons, but seven were for a single reason related to local development policies, it said.
The board said it acts in an “impartial and open manner to ensure that infrastructure projects respect the principles of sustainable development, including protection of the environment. Every application is decided according to its merits and relevant legal and policy requirements, it said.
The statement does not directly refer to the recent High Court decision in which Mr Justice Richard Humphreys criticised the board’s post-2022 record on determining renewable energy projects. He accused it of being “now almost petrified” to approve where a proposal materially contravenes the relevant local development plan.
A development plan sets out a local council’s objectives for particular areas in its vicinity. An Bord Pleanála has the power not to follow aspects of a development plan depending on the circumstances of a case.
In his ruling last Friday the judge noted the board had in mid-2022 attracted “huge controversy” for its “apparently freewheeling” approach to approving projects that contravene local development plans.
“Matters have now swung the other way so that from end-2022 onwards, the board seems now almost petrified to approve any material contravention favourable to renewable energy infrastructure, even if necessary to contribute to ensuring compliance with binding national and EU law obligations,” he said.
He said an uncontradicted claim before the court that there has been a “significant drop” in the board’s approval rating for wind energy projects, provided an “extremely concerning and disturbing picture which establishes...a pattern of behaviour by the board that is in effect sabotaging the compliance by the State with national and international climate commitments”.
Mr Justice Humphreys said the board has now adopted a “fixed practice of supine submission” to local development bans on renewable energy.
Overturning the board’s refusal of permission for a controversial wind farm in Co Laois, the judge found the authority failed to act in a manner that is compliant, as far as practicable, with climate objectives set out in the 2015 Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act.
That “failure” constitutes a breach of the board’s duty under the European Convention on Human Rights Act of 2003 and a breach of other EU law obligations, he ruled.
The decision came in a challenge brought by developer Coolglass Wind Farm Limited, which alleged An Bord Pleanála has failed to approve enough green energy infrastructure projects to meet 2030 environmental targets.
The Cork-based developer, represented by A&L Goodbody solicitors, wants to build a 13-turbine wind farm in town lands where wind farm development is prohibited by the Laois County Development Plan, which is set by the local council.
The planning application drew significant controversy with more than 100 public observations made to the board.
The board’s rejection last August was welcomed by Minister of State and local Fianna Fáil TD Sean Fleming who said in a video posted online that he would “ask the developers to pick up their bags and go away and not come back and try and recontest this”.
Mr Justice Humphreys has proposed remitting Coolglass’s application for fresh consideration by An Bord Pleanála. However, he will hear from the parties when the case returns to court on Monday.
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