Vol. 555 No. 1
306 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the measures he intends to put in place to deal with barriers to the development of rural and local community-based windfarms and specifically those articulated by Meitheal na Gaoithe such as planning barriers. [17699/02]
My Department published guidelines for planning authorities on wind farm development in September 1996. The guidelines, a copy of which is available in the Oireachtas Library, identify relevant planning and land use issues which planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála should have regard to in formulating development plans and in considering an application for planning permission or an appeal in relation to a wind farm.
My predecessor as Minister for the Environment and Local Government met representatives of the Irish Wind Energy Association and Meitheal na Gaoithe, the Irish Wind Farmers Association, in February of this year to discuss their concerns about the future development of the wind energy industry in Ireland.
The primary issue raised by Meitheal na Gaoithe, in so far as my area of responsibility is concerned, was their request that the guidelines for planning authorities on wind farm development be reviewed and updated. Within the past three weeks Meitheal na Gaoithe made a written submission to my Department outlining changes they wish to see in any revised edition of the guidelines. That submission is currently being considered by my Department.
