A bid by Loulé householders to highlight “irregularities and omissions” behind a huge solar farm on their doorsteps in Morgado de Apra has fallen flat with the CCDR (commission for regional coordination and development), which maintains everything is legal and above board.
Quoting the CCDR as saying there are “no facts” that could lead to a complaint on environmental grounds, Correio da Manhã newspaper explains residents’ complaints have thus been rejected. The fight, however, is unlikely to stop there.
The story has been widely reported in newspapers (including in the Algarve Resident) and TV, and residents have presented their complaints to both the national Ombudsman and European Commission.
Local mayor Vítor Aleixo has admitted to Lusa news agency that the situation may well be one where the “law has been adhered to, but the harmful consequences to the local population are obvious”.
“No one who chose such a beautiful place to live in, so rich in terms of natural beauty, could have expected, from one moment to the next, to be confronted by a photovoltaic centre that naturally is upsetting, very upsetting,” Aleixo added.
Maria José Castro, one of the householders involved in the fight, told SIC Notícias how, at certain times in the day, the reflection off the farm is like “having millions of mirrors pointed directly at you”.
To make matters worse, residents are concerned that the solar farm may soon be joined by a wind farm. In their complaint to the Ombudsman, SIC Notícias say householders claim the consequences would impact directly on local people’s health and quality of life, leading to problems with sleeping, headaches, nausea, palpitations and vision problems.
