Concern was expressed at a meeting of the council’s planning committee on Thursday (August 4) over potential “negative impact on tourism”.
The Department for Infrastructure is consulting with the borough council over a planning application submitted by Larne-based company Renewable Energy Systems (RES) based at Millbrook, the same company that is behind a proposal for Ballygilbert Wind Farm outside Ballygally.
The Unshinagh Wind Farm will be located five miles south west of Carnlough and five miles west of Glenarm in the townlands of Drumourne Unshinagh Mountain, if it is given the go-ahead.
The council’s Head of Planning Paul Duffy told the meeting that the site is located within the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The proposed turbines would stand up to 180 metres in height with a maximum rotor diameter of up to 136m. The site would include external electricity transformers; underground cabling; site entrance and access tracks to be put in place during a 12-month construction phase.
RES says that Unshinagh would have the capacity to deliver one of the cheapest forms of new electricity generation for approximately 70,000 homes.
Speaking at the meeting, Coast Road Sinn Fein Councillor James McKeown said: “I think that this planning committee and council as a whole should be answering this consultation with a view of refusal.
“We are talking about an area of natural beauty. It is astounding how anyone thinks that sticking 14 windmills there would be an advantage to this council.
“This council is promoting tourism. Carnlough, as a village, would double its population from April through the summer. It is a scenic village and to stick wind turbines above the village would be disastrous. I would ask that we respond in the negative.”
