Co Antrim wind farm application refused

A planning application for a wind farm in Co Antrim has been refused.

The application, described as “regionally significant”, was for the Unshinagh Wind Farm.

It is described as for 14 turbines within the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure has issued a Notice of Opinion to refuse planning permission.

The department’s most senior civil servant is leading it in the absence of locally elected ministers after almost two years of the effective collapse of the Stormont Assembly.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the department said the permanent secretary “has given full and careful consideration to all material planning considerations”.

“Due cognisance was given to the contribution that renewable energy can make to both the economy and tackling climate change; however in this case the significant harm that would be caused to the landscape of the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the ecological impacts on protected species within the Antrim Hills Special Protection Area, along with the archaeological, cultural and tourism assets in the locality outweighed the economic and environmental benefits,” they said. 

“The Permanent Secretary made the decision under powers laid out in the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022.”

The applicant can seek a hearing before the Planning Appeals Commission within 42 days of the date of the Notice of Opinion.