The Marine Planning and Develop Management Bill (MPDM Bill), currently being put in place by the government, will fundamentally transform how Ireland manages its marine space. The new regime will streamline arrangements on the basis of a single consent principle i.e. one state consent (Maritime Area Consent) to enable occupation of the Maritime Area and one development consent (planning permission), with a single environmental assessment.
Under the MPDM Bill, we will be required to apply to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission for this proposal. Public consultation, Environmental Impact Assessment and Appropriate Assessment will be undertaken before planning permission is granted.
All of our surveys will feed into the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) which will be submitted alongside our planning application. This document will outline our research into the local area along with proposals to mitigate any impacts the offshore wind farm might have on the surrounding environment. This will include the way that information gathered was incorporated into the design process and how it informed the changes we make along the way.
The current draft MPDM Bill legislation has identified An Bord Pleanála (ABP) as the authority that will make the decision on any planning application, so it is likely that ABP will be the consenting body. This will require that when complete, the planning application will be submitted directly to ABP. Once the planning application has been submitted, the full details of the project will be publicly available for everyone to view and offer feedback on. We will keep the local community and all relevant stakeholders informed of progress and intended timelines, and the planning application will be advertised when submitted, which is likely to be in 2022.
