So far no appeals have been lodged with An Bord Pleanala against the granting of planning permission by Longford County Council for a hydroelectric plant at Tarmonbarry on the upper reaches of the Shannon.
A spokesperson for the county council said this week that with a fortnight to go it had not yet been informed of any formal objection to the project.
When details of the project were made known some months ago there were complaints from local and visiting anglers, the National Heritage Council, wildlife groups and the Green Party MEP, Ms Nuala Ahern.
There were also complaints from local farmers living north of the development who said they feared the project would increase flooding in the area. Farming and angling groups gathered some weeks ago at a public meeting in Longford where they demanded that an independent environmental impact study of the development be carried out before permission be granted.
But Longford council planners concluded that an environmental impact study was not necessary as the development's proposed location was not a designated conservation area.
However, a detailed submission from the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board was given to the council outlining how fish stocks in the area could be protected. This proposed that fish passes, to allow game fish run upstream, be installed before the commissioning of the turbines and that three types of passes be incorporated into the development, including one for eels. The fisheries board also asked that the passes be installed, operated and maintained in accordance with the fisheries legislation.
The council's decision to grant permission carries 19 conditions which include the safeguards sought by the fisheries board. It said the provision of power lines to connect the system to the national grid should be subject to a separate planning application.
Mr Ben Magowan, whose company Campbell Electric made the application, said this week he was pleased the development had passed the first hurdle.
He said the 12 turbine generators would be capable of generating .5 Mw when in full production. The plant would cost between £1.2 and £2 million to build.
"I am a fisherman myself and this development will mean that there will be brand new passes for fish, including an eel run which does not go dry in the summer like the old one does," he said.
"It will be a modern new facility and in my opinion, it will be far more environmentally sound than the current weir. "The conditions are very strict and include automatic sluice gates which will allow for better control of the water there which should prevent rather than increase flooding," he said.
He said it would mean that the existing weir would be rebuilt.
"This is not a big ugly development. It will be under the weir where we need two metres of a head to generate. A similar system has been used in Benburb, Co Tyrone, for many years and has been very successful both from an environmental and generating capacity," he said.
Objectors have until the 17th of this month to object formally to the development.