Monaghan County Council has granted planning permission for a single wind turbine development near Clones, Northern Sound reported on Monday 12 October. The council's decision, listed as conditional permission in its planning records, was due on the same day.
What has been approved
The applicant, ART Generation Limited, lodged the application with the council on 7 October 2025, according to the planning record published through the council's MyCoCo Connect system. The site covers 7.64 hectares in the townlands of Carney's Island, Altartate Glebe, Legarhill and Clonavilla. The permission runs for 10 years.
The development consists of a single 4.8-megawatt turbine with an overall tip height of 143.8 metres, a rotor diameter of 133.2 metres and a hub height of 78 metres. The approved works also include:
- a turbine foundation, crane hardstanding and assembly area, and a temporary construction compound;
- an upgraded field entrance as the new site entrance, wider existing tracks and new access tracks;
- a new 10.5-metre clear-span bridge over an existing stream;
- demolition of the ruinous remains of two old stone buildings;
- an on-site 20kV electrical substation and cabling within private lands;
- an underground 20kV grid connection within private lands and within the R183 public road, connecting to the existing ESB Clones 38kV substation;
- tree felling, landscaping and reinstatement works.
The turbine's operational lifespan will be 35 years from the date it is commissioned.
How the decision was reached
The council asked the applicant for further information on 1 December 2025, and that information was received on 4 September 2026, the planning record shows. The further information was deemed significant and covered an appropriate assessment screening, bat and bird mitigation monitoring plans, an ecological impact assessment, a noise impact report, a shadow flicker report, a flood risk assessment, a water environmental assessment and revised plans.
The application notes that the development is covered by the EU's revised Renewable Energy Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/2413) and may be subject to section 34D of the Planning and Development Act 2000, which deals with renewable energy projects.
What happens next
Council decisions can be appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála, the national planning appeals body, within the statutory appeal period. At the time of writing, the planning record showed no appeal had been lodged. The conditions attached to the permission had not been published in the sources we reviewed. Residents who want to read the full decision and conditions can look up the file on Monaghan County Council's online planning system.
Because part of the grid connection runs within the R183 public road, local road users may see works along that route once construction begins. No start date has been announced.
