Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has turned down a planning application for SSE’s almost 119MW Doraville wind farm in Tyrone.
Mallon (pictured) said the refusal was a “finely balanced decision” where she had to weigh up the various benefits with the harm to the local area.
She said that consideration had been made of both the findings of the independent Public Inquiry, which took place in September last year, alongside the recommendations of planning officials.
“In this case 33 wind turbines would cause considerable harm to the landscape interest of a large part of the Sperrin Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and its unique archaeological, cultural and tourism assets,” Mallon said.
“The economic and environmental benefits of the proposal would not outweigh the harm to these important interests,” she added.
Mallon said that the Planning Appeals Commission report on the public inquiry indicated that the “scale of the proposal and the sheer magnitude of the associated change has the potential to detract from local people’s sense of place and connection to the land”.
She added: “My aim is to improve people’s lives, not add to their burden so taking all of this in to account, and in line with the PAC recommendation, I have decided to refuse this application.”
SSE said: “We are disappointed with today’s decision and will consider next steps in the weeks ahead.
“New onshore wind is amongst the lowest cost options for decarbonising electricity and can play an important role in supporting Northern Ireland’s net zero carbon energy transition.”