Plans by the Department of the Environment to designate parts of Co Kerry as Special Protection Areas (SPA) to protect the hen harrier could clash with the county's new development plan which sets out to protect the rural human population, the county manager, Mr Martin Nolan, has warned.
The draft plan sets out to protect "rural population, the rural economy" and includes policies to encourage the use of alternative natural resources to agriculture such as forestry, wind energy and minerals "as an alternative enterprise to underpin the economy of rural settlements", Mr Nolan has written to the Department of the Environment.
Designating parts of the Stack's mountain area, which the council considers suitable for development of wind energy, as an SPA for the protection of the hen harrier would be in direct conflict with the county council's plans to sustain the rural (human) population, Mr Nolan has indicated.
He is seeking a meeting with the Minister, Mr Cullen, to ensure there is no conflict between the various State bodies.
Nine areas countrywide are being considered by Dúchas for designation as SPAs for the hen harrier, in accordance with an EU directive on bird onservation.
Dúchas's efforts to protect the 130 or so pairs of hen harriers have led to huge disquiet in the county and in adjoining west Limerick and north Cork. Delegations have met the Minister and there have been reports that farmers have threatened to shoot the bird as well as to ban Dúchas scientists from their lands.
Mr Billy Leen, an independent councillor, said: "The hen harrier in Tursillagh [a wind farm in the Stack's mountains\] flies in and out between the turbines."
If the designations were put in place, small farmers and landowners "won't be able to plant a tree or cut a sod of turf".
A spokesman for the Minister said while recognising the importance of bird species, the Government would ensure protection was not at the expense of development at local level.