Louth County Council · Monthly Meeting of Louth County Council · 21 July 2025
A vote on a motion that the council write to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage urgently requesting the publication of updated Wind Energy Development Guidelines, the current ones dating from 2006.
Summary written by AI from the minutes. The motion as recorded follows.
On behalf of concerned residents of County Louth, the elected members of Louth County Council should write to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to urgently request the publication of updated Wind Energy Development Guidelines, in light of the fact that the current guidelines, dating from 2006, remain in effect despite being widely acknowledged as outdated and no longer fit for purpose and noting the prolonged delay since the draft guidelines were issued in 2019. Furthermore, in recognition of the uncertainty caused by the absence of an up-to-date national policy/regulation, this Council calls on the Minister to introduce a temporary pause on all large-scale onshore wind farm developments, pending the finalisation and adoption of revised Wind Energy guidelines/regulation. This motion reflects this Councils commitment to ensuring that renewable energy development proceeds in a manner that is appropriately planned, environmentally sustainable, respects peoples rights and protects health and wellbeing of local communities and recognises the need for robust regulation is urgently required
Proposed by Cllr. Kevin Callan; seconded by Cllr. Declan Power.
The minutes record: A roll call was then taken to adopt Cllr Callans Notice of Motion as currently worded:
| Party | Tá | Níl | Staon | Didn't vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinn Féin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Independent | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Fianna Fáil | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Fine Gael | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Labour Party | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Green Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
None
Tá, Níl and Staon are the minutes’ for, against and abstained. “Didn’t vote” covers councillors on the council that day whom the minutes don’t list under any option, for any reason. Parties are as of the meeting day.