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Forestry planning applications covering 1,139ac of land have been appealed by the group Save Leitrim since the start of this year, the Irish Farmers Journal can reveal.
Almost 19% of the land in Leitrim is in forestry – the highest in any county in Ireland – and the group has joined forces with the IFA to call for a moratorium on planting in the county. The group believes that forestry is having a negative impact on local communities, and feels that tax-free premiums attract outside investors who are driving up the cost of farmland.
Out of 114 appeals lodged with the Forestry Appeals Committee this year, 27% were in regard to forests in Leitrim.
The group Save Leitrim accounted for 21% of all overall appeals against afforestation licences.
The Forestry Appeals Committee was set up in February this year and acts independently of the Department of Agriculture.
“We have a serious issue with the appeals board,” local Fianna Fáil councillor and Save Leitrim member Justin Warnock said.
“Everyone in Save Leitrim has to take time out of their day job to work on appeals. It can take up to three hours from parts of Leitrim to get the appeals office in Portlaoise.
“Recently we missed an appeal hearing due to a weather warning and the appeals committee are adamant they won’t reschedule the hearing. We’ve no problem with broadleaf planting and with proper schemes, but we have an issue with the planting of Sitka spruce in the county,” Warnock added.
Sitka spruce is the most popular type of conifer in Ireland and earns an annual output of €2.3bn from forestry and forestry products, according to the Forestry Midterm Review.
Potential pollution
However, potential forest pollution is also becoming a concern, with a recent Environment Protection Agency report citing a decline in the water quality in a number of Leitrim lakes. Local TD for Leitrim Martin Kenny has raised the issue of 700,000ac of acid-sensitive soil in Leitrim and north Roscommon, but neither county is included in the defined areas subject to Acid Sensitive Protocol in order to receive a forestry licence.
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