Solar farm development to proceed as restructuring of rural land holdings to undergo separate environmental assessment

Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal from the High Court, and determined that the construction of a solar farm, which includes the restructuring of rural land holdings, does not require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the entire project. Instead, only the restructuring aspect, which falls under Annex II of the EIA Directive, must be assessed. The court found that while the solar farm itself was not listed in the EIA Directive's annexes and thus not subject to an EIA, the cumulative effects of the solar farm and the restructuring must be considered during the assessment of the rural land restructuring. The original decision by An Bord Pleanála (ABP) to grant planning permission for the solar farm was upheld, with the requirement that a separate EIA for the restructuring of rural land holdings be conducted by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine as per the 2011 Regulations. The Supreme Court therefore dismissed the appeal, stating that the substantive issues raised were not properly pleaded and that the second issue was premature, pending a decision by the Minister under the 2011 Regulations.