Public exhibitions for proposed Altaveedan Wind Farm

PUBLIC exhibitions are taking place next week for the proposed Altaveedan Wind Farm, near Loughguile.

The proposal is for up to nine turbines, with a maximum height of 101.2m from base to blade tip, in the townlands of Altaveedan North, Altaveedan South, Aldorough and Shelton South, approximately two kilometres east of Loughguile.

The public exhibitions will take place from 2pm until 8pm on Tuesday 21st September and Wednesday 22nd September in the Millennium Centre, Loughguile. The exhibitions will provide the public with detailed information on the environmental and technical studies which have been undertaken, and offer a further opportunity to discuss the project, ask questions and provide feedback.

Fiona Stevens, RES Project Manager commented: "Everyone is welcome to come along to the exhibitions to find out more about the proposals. We have sent information to over 350 political representatives, householders, community groups and organisations in the local area. We visited door-to-door with residents living on roads closest to the site in June this year, and these visits are being repeated prior to the exhibitions."

Following the exhibitions, RES intends to submit a planning application for the wind farm in the autumn. A full Environmental Statement is being prepared, which examines the potential effects of the proposals on a variety of subjects, including landscape and visual amenity; acoustics; ecology; archaeology; socio-economics; air and climate; health and safety; infrastructure and tourism. The Environmental Statement will be submitted to the Planning Service as part of the planning application.

Fiona added: "We will keep the local community updated about when the planning application is submitted, and reference copies of the Environmental Statement will be freely available for viewing in local venues."

The proposed wind farm has an indicative installed capacity of 18 megawatts, which will generate clean, renewable power equivalent to the annual electricity demand of an estimated 10,000 homes a year, reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of a low-carbon fuel source, and bring economic benefits to the area.

People wishing to find out more about the exhibitions can contact Fiona on 028 2826 3320 or email [email protected].