Deep divisions had been created in a scenic valley in Co Kerry over proposals to zone it for wind farming, a meeting in Tralee was told yesterday.
A community was divided and neighbour was not speaking to neighbour over plans to zone the remote and beautiful Inny Valley in south Kerry for wind farming, the meeting of Kerry County Council was told.
Most of the 100 submissions in a plan to zone the landscape for renewable energy had to do with the river valley stretching from the foothills of the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks from the pass of Bealach Oisín through forestry and the river Inny to Lough Currane.
This was a walkers’ paradise and part of the Kerry Way and should remain unspoilt, dozens of objectors said.
Fishery bodies including Inland Fisheries Ireland and a local fisheries development body said they feared for the Inny, an important salmon and trout river and said zoning it for wind farms would be “disastrous”.
An Taisce objected strongly to the zoning. It said since the valley was remote from large populations it was questionable if wind farms would be of much benefit.