Codling Wind Park represents one of the largest energy infrastructure investments in Ireland this decade and is set to become one of Ireland’s largest offshore wind farms, being developed in the Irish Sea. The expected output of the wind park would be enough to supply the equivalent of up to 1.2 million Irish homes with low-carbon, locally produced, low-cost electricity. Codling Wind Park will support the delivery of Ireland’s Climate Action Plan targets and help reduce Ireland’s reliance on imported fossil fuel-based energy and significantly improve energy security.
As part of the development process for this project, Codling Wind Park has committed to three phases of non-statutory public consultation and engagement. The first phase of public consultation and engagement took place in March 2021, which presented an introduction to the project. Since then, the project has advanced significantly, and the project team ran Phase 2 of this process for four weeks, from Wednesday 11 January 2023 until Wednesday 8 February 2023. This second phase of engagement and consultation provided a greater level of detail with an objective to seek feedback on the project plans as well as continuing our dialogue with local communities and stakeholders.
The consultation included briefings for Wicklow and Poolbeg stakeholders, a virtual consultation room and four public information days. Codling took an innovative approach to incorporate the voice of the youth and facilitated a local Transition Year workshop with Coláiste Chraobh Abhann in Kilcoole. The Codling Wind Park team would like to thank all of those who attended the consultation events and provided their feedback to support the project into the next phase.
Pat Sammon, External Affairs Manager at Codling Wind Park commented: “Everyone on the team was really impressed with the attendance and level of engagement at our public and youth consultation events. It was great to witness such positivity towards the project, that was matched with the very real desire to understand how it will work and find out about the opportunities Codling can provide at a National and local level. The feedback received is extremely useful and will help inform the next stage of development and ultimately improve the project for all involved.”
One submission noted how there was excellent outreach to those affected in Wicklow throughout the consultation. Submissions described the Codling Wind Park team at the public events as “knowledgeable”, “enthusiastic” and referenced how they were impressed with the engagement.
A snapshot of the public and youth consultations is provided in the infographics. For more information, please contact us at contact@codlingwindpark.ie
