An Coimisiún Pleanála has refused to grant planning permission for works linked to the Meenbog Wind Farm.
Mid Cork Electrical Ltd had appealed a decision of Donegal County Council, who denied permission for the construction of three new culverts to replace existing culverts along the N15 at Tawnawully Mountain.
The proposed culverts are designed to connect the development, near Barnesmore Gap, to the national grid.
In 2020, a major peat slide occurred at the Meenbog Wind Farm, causing thousands of tonnes of peat and conifers to career down into the Mournebeg river and the Shruhangarve burn.
Noting that the Court of Appeal deemed the Meenbog Wind Farm as an unauthorised development, the planning body termed these proposed works to be “premature pending resolution of the status of Meenbog Wind Farm.”
The Commission said it was not satisfied that the application was made by a person with sufficient legal estate or interest in the land, or had the approval of a person with such sufficient legal estate of interest.
It also raised concerns over a possible significant effect to the Lough Eske and Ardnamona Wood Special Area of Conservation. This was due to the absence of sufficient detail on the impact of the proposed culvert works on the Lowerymore River and habitat loss.
In April 2024, a High Court order was made by Mr Justice David Holland prohibiting further development at the Meenbog Wind Farm.
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Mr Justice Holland held that unauthorised development at the site consists of the entire wind farm and not each of or all of 25 material deviations.
The Judge found that he had jurisdiction to restrain any further works on the site – at least until the planning status is regularised.
Court documents, seen by Donegal Daily, estimate that “about 86,240m3 of peat slid – of which about 65,740m3 left the ‘scar areas’ and entered the Shruhangarve Stream via which it flowed into the Mourne Beg River and on to nearby European Sites, including in Northern Ireland, causing significant environmental damage.”
In December 2024, the Court of Appeal ruled that the planning deviations meant that the whole development was “unauthorised.”
The Court of Appeal also upheld the order stopping further works at the site. In the Court of Appeal judgment, Ms Justice Nuala Butler said Planree and Mid-Cork Electrical had come to accept there were “multiple deviations” from their planning permission for the site.
The November 2020 slide was preceded by two other slides in June 2020.
A quantity of turbines and rotors intended for installation at Meenbog remain in storage near Killybegs.