Refusal for turbine plan at Trooperslane

Members of Carrick WindWatch have lobbied against plans for the 65-metre structure for a number of years.

The campaign was boosted in recent months with the refusal of a separate application for a 30 metre structure close to New Line.

Some 206 objection letters were received against the Trooperslane plans, which were deemed by the Planning Service to pose ‘an unacceptable adverse impact in the visual amenity and landscape character of the area’ if permitted.

Commenting on the development, Trooperslane resident and Carrick Windwatch campaigner Heather Barclay said: “We’ve been fighting this for the past four years so it’s a huge plus for us that the application has been refused, although like New Line that decision could be appealed so we will have to keep an eye on it.

“We’ve been to Stormont and to Dublin with this whole issue and it’s not something that going to go away any time soon; the entire face of Carrickfergus is going to change in the next few years as even though these two applications have been refused, there are dozens more in the pipeline.”

Outlining the group’s concerns over the environmental impact of the structures, Heather added: “What happens if the subsidies for these turbines aren’t available any more? If they have to be dismantled, there’ll still be the concrete bases left and that’ll have an impact on farming.

“There’s also talk about turbines supplying so many hundreds of houses, but there’s a whole infrastructure to support.”