Over 300 protesters have taken part in a slow drive protest in Kilmeaden, Co Waterford against a major data centre and energy development proposed near the village.
A convoy of cars, tractors, vans and other vehicles set off from Ballyduff National School this morning.
The convoy travelled through Kilmeaden by way of Kildermody towards the Kingsmeadow Roundabout on the Cork Road, before returning through the village.
Crag Rathnew DC Limited and Kent Homes Limited are seeking permission to develop the former Kilmeaden cheese factory site and its adjoining lands.
The planning application states that the proposed development would “provide for a mixed use village centre, technology park, and renewable energy development on a total site area of 108.79 hectares.”
Those behind the project have said that all of their facilities are designed and developed in line with regulatory guidelines and in consultation with community representatives.
Amanda Power, a committee member of the Kilmeaden Against Industrialisation community group and an organiser of the protest, said their action today is to prevent their “village from being changed forever”.
“If this is built, there’s no going back. We’re not getting the village back. Most of us grew up here, born and bred. We know what it’s like to grow up in a village. And this will completely destroy that.”
“The thought of three big data centres going in, a massive solar farm, a gas power plant, essentially, and all the infrastructure that comes with that, not to mention the noise and the traffic. It’s so much to expect the residents of a small village to just accept.”
Waterford City and County Council is due to make its planning decision on the Kilmeaden site on 19 October.
Ms Power is certain the group will continue their campaign if that planning is granted.
“We’ll keep protesting. We’ll keep making our voices heard.
“We will fight, and at the very least we’ll be appealing to An Coimisiún Pleanála if this goes any further.”
“We haven’t been heard during any part of this process. You can’t just throw data centres in the middle of a village and that be the precedent.”
“We won’t let that happen,” she added.
Danny and Eithne Brennan have lived on the border of the proposed development for over 50 years. Danny fears their home will become unlivable if planning is granted.
“It would be devastating, for fifty years our home has been nice and peaceful.”
“The data centres being proposed would sit at the bottom of our garden. That’s a prospect that nobody wants. It’s terrible.”
“If this plan goes through with the noise, the lights and everything associated with these developments, the house won’t be worth anything really.”
“Who’s going to want to purchase a house if you have that thing going 24 hours a day, seven days a week?”
“We are going to fight this for as far as it takes. We will do our very, very best,” he added.
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16 gas-powered turbines
At the centre of the proposed development is a major technology park containing three large information and communications technology (ICT) facility buildings, each extending to around 24,000sq/m.
These buildings would accommodate ICT equipment and associated electrical and mechanical infrastructure, alongside offices, staff facilities, loading areas and emergency generators.
An energy centre featuring 16 gas-powered turbines is also proposed.
The wider development would include a new village centre with 48 apartments, a two-storey supermarket with an off-licence, childcare facility, community centre, gym, café, health centre and pharmacy.
A solar farm containing more than 43,000 solar panels and a battery energy storage system also form part of the proposals.
Those against the project have said the protest reflects the “growing concern about whether rural communities are being asked to accommodate an expanding network of industrial energy infrastructure to meet the demands of large private data centre developments, without sufficient consideration of the cumulative consequences for those living nearby”.
Locals express concerns about size of development
Local resident Niall Power raised concerns about the size of the proposed development.
“We’re not talking about a few buildings here. We’re talking about three massive data centres, 16 gas turbines and everything else that goes with them. It’s enormous.
“How can anyone think that’s suitable for a village like Kilmeaden? People are really worried about what it will mean for their homes and families,” he said.
Residents are also questioning the combined effects that solar farms, battery storage projects and electricity infrastructure could have on Kilmeaden and neighbouring communities, including the latest Kildermody solar farm application.
Another local resident Nicola Kenny said: “It’s one development after another, and each one is looked at separately. But we have to live with all of them. At what point does somebody say enough is enough? We chose to live in the countryside, not in the middle of an industrial estate.”
Driving ‘economic activity in communities’
Echelon Data Centres, one of the companies behind the project, has said it is committed to delivering digital infrastructure responsibly and sustainably.
In a statement to RTÉ News, a spokesperson for the company said: “All our facilities are designed and developed in line with regulatory guidelines and in consultation with community representatives.
“They create jobs, support the national grid, help bring large-scale renewables onstream, and drive economic activity in communities throughout Ireland.
“A planning submission for a technology park on a brownfield site in Kilmeaden, alongside new residential housing and community amenities in the village, is still under consideration with Waterford City and County Council. It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to discuss the application further at this stage,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Tramore-based property development company, Kent Homes has said it is “proud to be able to deliver, subject to the granting of planning permission by Waterford County Council, much needed housing, public spaces and community facilities for the village of Kilmeaden.”
A spokesperson for the company added: “All of this is being made possible through our partnership with Echelon, who (again subject to the granting of planning permission) will be developing and operating the technology park which is an integral part of our planning application”.
