NI Conservatives’ environment spokesman, Brian McBride, has warned that Northern Ireland’s beauty spots must be protected, after the Department of Regional Development admitted that areas in the Mournes have been ear-marked for possible development of wind farms.
“We have to be very careful that we balance our requirement for renewable energy against the protection of the beauty of our landscape”, Brian noted. “In particular, we have a number of important Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Northern Ireland, one of which is the Mournes. These are critical when it comes to tourism and protecting our natural environment and we have to be extremely careful that they remain beautiful and unspoilt for future generations.”
“There have been other extremely worrying plans to develop these farms in stunning locations at the North Coast, for instance at Binevenagh Mountain close to Castlerock. We’re trying to use the beauty of our landscape to attract visitors to Northern Ireland and, if wind farm developers see our AONBs as a ‘soft touch’ that strategy will be out the window. We must make sure that there are sufficient protections in place for our most scenic areas and that our need to explore renewable forms of energy is balanced against other environmental concerns.”