Voluntary Conservation for Ireland’s Coastal Ecosystems
Who We Are
South East Coastal Protection Alliance is a voluntary conservation group, concerned about the failure of successive Irish governments to adequately protect and preserve the ecologically rich and important Arklow Bank sandbank.
What Is the Arklow Bank?
A Unique and Vital Marine Habitat
The Arklow Bank is an Annex 1 habitat that warrants designation as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive.
It is a narrow headland-associated sandbank covered by seawater at all times sitting only 6km-13km from shore, impressively stretching 27km long from Wicklow Head to Kilmicheal Point. It acts a natural buffer to protect the coastline from storm tides. It is the foraging and feeding grounds of numerous protected sea birds, sea mammals, fish and shell species. It was once an impressive indigenous oyster reef.
Evidence of Political Failure Since 2002
Since 2002, we are first-hand witnesses of this political failure as the beaches and coastline of Wicklow and Wexford face man-made erosion because the Arklow Bank has been compromised from the nearshore wind development Arklow Bank Wind Park 1.
Over the years, sand has built up around the bases of these 7 small turbines, altering the height of this important headland-associated sandbank.
This developer-led project was given consent in advance of a final environmental impact assessment of the scheme, despite reports that highlighted the ‘unstable’ nature of the sandbank as a location for a wind park.
It was not subject to the precautionary principle to ensure that site conservation objectives were fully met, nor was it or alternative locations robustly reviewed as part of the Strategic Environmental Directive Assessment in 2010.
Nevertheless, with a lucrative lease in hand, this same ecologically rich location is now proposed by SSE Renewables (Sure Partners Ltd) for unprecedented industrialisation with Arklow Bank Wind Park 2.
The Need for Ecosystem-Based Planning
It is profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that the Government and its agencies underappreciate the risks and potential harms in pursuing a developer-led offshore renewable strategy over the plan-led ecosystem-based approach to marine spatial planning and protection.
