Wind farm developments that could power every house in Belfast are being delayed by planning application decisions that take up to three years, it emerged today
The logjam has been blamed by wind power business Airtricity on limited resources at the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS), and the company believes it may be 2009 before many facilities get approval.
The firm has been waiting three years for its Slieve Beagh application in south Tyrone, and Development Manager Kevin Hegarty said bureaucracy was hampering the industry.
"The bottom line is that we have six planning applications pending, and they have the potential to produce 200 megawatts of power each year which is enough for 125,000 homes," he said.
"People like our company are struggling to convince our board to give us money for further development when they can get permission in two-and-a-half weeks somewhere like Texas, it is a no-brainer.
"Although we took all of the risks years ago, our application which has been waiting for between 18 months and two years, will be dealt with at the same time as applications put in last week," he said.
Mr Hegarty said under-resourcing at the EHS, which checks the impact of developments on communities, contributed to the delay. In the three-year period up to March 2005, the number of planning applications received by the planning service rose 30 per cent.í