Mr Justice Humphreys handed down the judgement in the High Court on 10 January 2025 on an application made by Coolglass Wind Farm Limited (the “Applicant”) against An Bord Pleanála (the “Respondent”). The case concerned an application by the Applicant, a wind farm company, for planning permission to construct a wind farm in Co. Laois.
The Respondent had rejected permission for a wind farm on the grounds that it materially contravened the development plan for the county. 12 out of the 13 proposed wind turbines were located in areas that had previously been designated as “not open for consideration” for wind farm development, primarily due to visual concerns. The Applicant argued that under S15(1) of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Acts 2015-2021 (the “Climate Act”), as well as EU law and obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, the Respondent had an obligation to interpret its planning decisions so that climate considerations would take priority over visual concerns and that therefore the Respondent had taken inadequate account of S15(1).
The Court referenced the previous case of Nagle View Turbine Aware Group v. An Bord Pleanála, stating that if climate goals are to take precedence over general visual concerns, then climate goals must also take precedence over development plan provisions that are motivated by visual concerns.
The Court held that the Respondent had acted unlawfully by not complying with the climate objective and policies of the Climate Act. Additionally, it was noted that the failure to adequately consider the climate benefits of allowing the project was a breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The appeal was granted, and an order was made for the application to be remitted to the Respondent for further consideration in accordance with the judgement.