Solar water feature approved in local village

A solar-powered water feature and ornamental pump could become local landmarks in Tubber village in the near future, newly approved plans reveal.

Offaly County Council has cleared the way for Tubber Tidy Villages to move forward with innovative proposals to install two solar panels at Gorteen, Tubber, which will be used for the running of a new water feature in the village on the Offaly/Westmeath border.

Another solar panel in the same townland will run the ornamental pump.

Back in September, the plans were paused after the local authority asked for a revised site layout because the Tullamore Area Engineer required the solar panels to be moved 50 metres from the R420/L2018-1 junction to ensure the solar panels did not “interfere with sightlines on the road or visually impair directional signposts at the junction.”

Instead, Offaly County Council stipulated that the solar panels should be located behind the existing timber rail fencing.

That extra information was supplied by the applicants in November, and the council rubber-stamped the project recently subject to compliance with several planning conditions, including the production of a traffic management plan for the project.