The largest broccoli producer in the State has said Government strategy on targets for solar farms “is fatally flawed” and threatens food security when they are sited on “the best land in the country”.
Paul Brophy’s family-owned farming business, Brophy Produce Ltd, produces 70 per cent of the State’s fresh broccoli. The Naas-based enterprise is one of scores of third parties to raise concerns over plans for a €168 million 140MW solar farm on a 338-acre site at Ballindrum, Co Kildare.
The site, located 5.1km northeast of Athy and 2km southeast of Kilmead village, covers 16 fields that are currently used for both arable and pastoral farming.
The solar farm application attracted 86 third party submissions, which have been lodged with the council.
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“We [as food producers] do not have a choice but to source the best available land and solar farms do,” Mr Brophy said. “If they were committed to proper values of sustainability, they would be seeking out the least productive land to site solar farms on it.”
A planning report lodged with the application by Ballindrum Solar Ltd says that the proposed development will generate a range of economic benefits, both in terms of its construction and operation, generating jobs for installation, maintenance and its eventual remediation.
The planning report by Neo Environmental says the solar farm would deliver a significant saving of approximately 57,945 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year compared to equivalent fossil fuel generation. That, it says, equates to around 2.3 million tonnes over the 40-year project lifetime;
Neo Environmental says the solar farm could power an estimated 40,170 homes annually. It says it would provide a stable and diversified source of revenue for the landowners concerned over a sustained period.
Local farmer, Noel Lawler from Killeen, Narraghmore, said his primary concern related to the loss of prime agricultural land.
“The lands proposed for this development represent some of the most fertile and productive agricultural land in Ireland. Converting this land into a solar farm would remove it from food production for at least 40 years, which is effectively a full generation.
“Agricultural land is a finite resource and once it is removed from production it cannot easily be replaced,” he said.
Beef and dairy farmer, Niall Grufferty, from Ballindrum, has also expressed concerns over the loss of productive land from the agricultural catchment.
