Coastal Concern Alliance
Working to Protect Ireland's Coastal Zone since 2006
Coastal Concern Alliance is an independent voluntary citizens’ group set up in 2006 to campaign for reform of the outdated and undemocratic legislation governing construction in Irish waters - The Foreshore Act 1933. Our objective is to conserve and protect our unique marine wildlife, habitats and coastal landscapes. We support the use of offshore renewable energy to help cut fossil fuel consumption provided that developments are appropriately sited in line with good European environmental practice. We are concerned that the reform we have been seeking is being undermined by multinational energy companies who are proposing to construct some of the biggest offshore wind farms in the world on near shore sites (5-13km from shore) picked out during the Celtic Tiger era close to the East coast with NO biodiversity or landscape constraints. This unregulated site selection process continues today.
Maritime Area Planning Bill, 2021 published
Long-awaited and much needed legislation is undermined by inclusion of priority status for all wind farm applications submitted prior to 31st December 2019. The Library and Research Service Bill Digest gives a summary of key points.
Careful site-selection is internationally recognised as key to avoiding damaging environmental impacts.
CCA Briefing Note - Maritime Area Planning Bill
Details of vast near-shore wind farms proposed on sites picked out by developers with no environmental constraints or site-selection oversight that will be given priority status for fast-tracking under the new Bill.
Proposed East Coast Wind Farms
Huge near-shore developments with hundreds of turbines up to 320m high are being progressed along the coast from Dundalk Bay to Carnsore Point in advance of the adoption of Ireland's Marine Spatial Plan, the designation of Marine Protected Areas to protect marine biodiversity, and urgently required legislative reform. This makes a nonsense of the commitment to introduce an ecosystem-based Marine Spatial Plan for Ireland.
This CCA graphic shows that turbines proposed are too big, too close to shore and out of line with good international siting practice. The average distance from shore of offshore wind farms under construction in Europe last year was 44km. This compares to an average of less than 10km for proposed East coast wind farms. It is stated that because of water depth, the turbines cannot be placed further out. This is effectively an acknowledgement that the sites chosen are not suitable for these developments.
Arklow Bank Wind Park Codling Wind Parks 1 & 2
Dublin Array North Irish Sea Array
Oriel Wind Farm Other proposed projects
National Marine Planning Framework
Draft Marine Spatial Plan and SEA published.
This CCA document raises serious concerns about the dominance of developer interests in the draft Plan produced.
Marine Planning and Development Management Bill
CCA submission to the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
CCA are deeply concerned at the manner in which government is seeking, under this Bill, to 'fast-track' seven giant near-shore legacy wind farms before Ireland's first Marine Spatial Plan is adopted.
Regulatory Failure
Buffer Zone Needed to Protect our coast
Nature Protection
Who Are Coastal Concern Alliance?
Coastal Concern Alliance (CCA) is an independent, voluntary group, set up in 2006 by environmentally conscious citizens to campaign for:
Reform of the outdated and undemocratic legislation governing construction in Irish seas (The Foreshore Act 1933).
Introduction of a new planning framework to protect our coastal landscapes and marine environment.
Development of a Marine Spatial Plan for Ireland.
We have no affiliation to any political party or industry group.
Why was Coastal Concern Alliance set up?
The vast majority of Irish people are unaware that large tracts of our ecologically sensitive, near-shore waters off the east coast have been targeted by developers for construction of some of the biggest offshore wind farms in the world. During the Celtic Tiger Era, 99 year Foreshore Leases were awarded for construction of two large scale wind farms with hundreds of huge turbines on the Arklow & Codling Banks off the coasts of Wicklow and south Dublin. Extensive exploratory licences were also awarded off the coasts of Louth, Dublin & Wicklow and in Galway Bay. More recently, Foreshore Licence applications have been submitted for exploration of large nearshore areas off Waterford and Cork.
An outdated and undemocratic legislative regime has facilitated this 'sea-grab' under the radar of public attention. This legacy of speculation and inadequate regulation continues to shape the future of our coastal zone, endangering protected habitats, marine wildlife and coastal landscapes.
The management of Ireland's coastal waters is a matter of great importance to many citizens who have been excluded from the decision-making process because of the serious democratic deficits which have existed for decades. The current marine planning legislation, the Foreshore Act 1933, empowers a sole individual, the Minister for the Environment, to grant foreshore leases to private individuals and dictate conditions attaching to those leases, with no statutory involvement of Local Authorities, no pre-selection of sites by government and no affordable public right of appeal against the Minister's decision. Developers were allowed to pick out sites on a 'first come first served' basis, with no public tendering. As a result of the low key manner in which this process worked, leases and licences have been granted without the knowledge of the vast majority of Irish citizens and their public representatives.
Coastal Concern Alliance supports the development of offshore renewables in Irish waters to help Ireland meet national energy objectives. We believe that permission to construct such huge industrial installations must be assessed under a democratic fit-for-purpose legislative process and developments must be to a proper scale and properly sited to avoid damaging impacts on marine wildlife, habitats and coastal landscapes.