ESB criticised for moving golf club power line to beauty spot

The Irish Forestry Board and south Dublin residents have criticised the rerouting by the ESB of a power line from the site of a new golf club to a beauty spot.

The company is in the process of moving the line over Carrickgollogan Hill in Ballyman to facilitate a new golf course being built by the Cosgrave property group.

The 6 km power line will now cut through Carrickgollogan Woods, a Coillte forest which is recommended in the Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Development Plan for consideration as a special amenity area. It will also pass close to St Kevin's well in Ballyman Glen. The glen is a special area of conservation and a proposed national heritage area.

The new line will include 10 steel pylons and 16 double wood polesets to a maximum height of around 60 feet. The existing line cuts across the land on which the course is being developed, as part of a land swap deal with Dún Laoghaire Golf Club.

The ESB was granted permission in May for the diversion by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the work is being funded by Cosgrave Property Group.

Locals claim the development will destroy the natural beauty of the area and disturb the habitat of protected species. They also argue that an environmental impact statement should have been prepared for the development.

Local hill-walker Mr Eamon Keogh said locals were very angry. "They have cut a swath through the forest up there," Mr Keogh said. "It is a habitat for protected species, red squirrel, badgers and bats, and it is being destroyed."

He said locals did not get a chance to object because there was no public consultation and they did not see site notices; advertisements in the papers were vague. "If you look at the wording of the planning application it describes the location as 'in the vicinity of'," he said. "It is so vague that you wouldn't know where it was happening. The mountain is being sacrificed for the sake of a private golf course."

Ms Maureen Delaney, spokeswoman for Coillte, said that of the 85 hectares in the wood about 12 hectares would be affected, six of which already contained a power line.

"It is a highly used amenity area and it will continue to be a highly used amenity area," Ms Delaney said. "Our policy in relation to this would be to facilitate the ESB in their statutory duties."

She said that there was only anecdotal evidence of the existence of protected species in Carrickgollogan Wood. "Carrickgollogan is also directly adjacent to Barnaslingan Wood, another local amenity," she said. "While we are facilitating the ESB we are also welcoming visitors to the woods."

A spokesman for the ESB said that the diversion was being carried out along statutory guidelines. "There is nothing out of the ordinary in this. It went through the process," he said. "There was no attempt to hide anything." Site notices had been erected at the forest in conjunction with the planning application.

Local Green Party TD Mr Ciarán Cuffe said he was "mystified as to why Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council granted permission for the development," he said.