Solar farm developers Amarenco has sought an additional three-month extension to complete a further information request on their large-scale solar farm planning application in Castlelyons.

Submitted last June, after a similar application was refused permission in April, the application is for a 5 MW solar farm comprising of 22,000 photovoltaic panels within a site area of 8.86 hectares.

Cork County Council originally refused planning permission to the project over concerns relating to the site entrance and road safety during the construction phase.

Following the new submission by Amarenco, which was founded by former Bord Gais boss John Mullins, Cork County Council indicated that an Archaeological Impact Assessment is required before a new decision can be made.

Should archaeological material be found, further mitigation measures would be required, which may include a redesign of the application for the purposes of preservation, archaeological evacuation and/or monitoring.

Already operating a number of solar farms in France, Amarenco has looked to construct similar solar farms in counties here across Munster and Leinster.