Ballymoneen Grange East Cashla and Moor, Co. Galway

What’s proposed

to construct an extension to the permitted and under construction Ballymoneen Solar Farm (Galway County Council Reg. Ref. 20/961 and Reg. Ref. 22/61105); at a site of four separate land parcels with a combined area of c.65.72 hectares, all situated adjacent to or in close proximity to the permitted and under-construction solar farm. The application site comprises four parcels as follows: Parcel A is located in the townland of Ballymoneen measures c.14.29 hectares and is principally bounded: to the north partly by agricultural lands and partly by Cregmore Road; to the south and west by agricultural lands; and to the east by the permitted and under-construction solar farm. Parcel B is located in the townland of Grange East, measures c.8.50 hectares and is principally bounded: to the north and west by the permitted and under construction solar farm; and to the south and east by agricultural lands. The L7117 local road runs parallel to the parcels eastern boundary. Parcel C is located in the townland of Cashla, measures c.22.05 hectares and is principally bounded: to the north partly by agricultural lands and partly by the permitted and under construction solar farm; to the east and west by agricultural lands and to the south partly by agricultural lands, partly by a farmyard, and two residential properties (Cashla House, H65 A892, and Cashla Lodge, H65 XY56) and partly by the R339 road. Parcel D is located in the townland of Moor, Co. Galway, measures c.20.6 hectares and is principally bounded: to the north by agricultural lands; to the east by the L3103 local road to the south partly by a Moorpark, Athenry, Co. Galway (Eircode H65 CX33) and partly by agricultural lands; and to the west by agricultural lands. The proposed development consists of: the installation of photovoltaic (PV) panels mounted on ground-based support structures across Parcels A–D; provision of electrical transformer and inverter station modules; construction of internal access routes to serve the subject parcels; provision of security fencing, CCTV, and associated ancillary infrastructure; installation of underground electrical cabling and ducting (including a section of underground cabling and ducting along a section of the L3103 connecting Parcel C to Parcel D (c. 0.28 hectares)); provision of site drainage infrastructure; implementation of landscaping and habitat enhancement measures, including hedgerow planting and reinforcement, reseeding, and ecological mitigation; and all associat