Product Code Database
Gougane Barra () is a scenic valley and heritage site in the Shehy Mountains of County Cork, Ireland. It is near Ballingeary in the Muskerry Gaeltacht. Gougane Barra is at the source of the River Lee and includes a lake with an oratory built on a small island. It also includes a forest park.
Reforestation of Gougane Barra began in 1938 and it is now home to a forest park with 20 tree species, mainly non-native Picea sitchensis, Larix kaempferi and Lodgepole pine, but also Scots pine and other native species of flora and fauna. The source of the River Lee rises in the hills above the park and flows into Gougane lake. The forest park has of motor trail and of hill walks, nature points and vista trails. The Coillte-owned forest at Gougane Barra was temporarily closed in 2014 to allow felling of 16,000 trees, mostly larches, infected with or susceptible to Phytophthora ramorum, a pathogen responsible for sudden oak death. These trees were to be replaced with native species such as oak and Scots pine.
Since 2021, the company Wingleaf Ltd plans to erect a wind farm of seven turbines in the area, which would be among the tallest in Ireland. Their application was refused by Cork County Council, who voted unanimously against it. The company appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Their inspector also rejected it, stating that it "would have significant adverse environmental and visual impacts and is not sustainable at this highly sensitive location". Despite this, An Bord Pleanála granted permission, on the grounds that the wind farm would contribute "to the implementation of Ireland's national strategic policy on renewable energy". Tim Lucey, spokesman of the campaigners against the wind farm, said the decision was undemocratic as the local people and council opposed it.
|
|
