About Us
OUR CAMPAIGN
About us
Save The Moat – Save The Sperrins are a recently formed group of concerned residents of the Aughabrack, Dunamanagh and Plumbridge areas as well as the wider Sperrins.We are one of a growing number of local groups already formed or are being formed within the Sperrins in response to and in opposition to proposed developments of an industrial nature -which if allowed would be detrimental to and be out of character with the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty status of the Sperrins.
As a group, Save The Moat – Save The Sperrins values our wonderful sense of community, our precious landscape, and a rich heritage – natural and cultural which is very much unique to the Sperrins. We want to preserve and protect the wellbeing of the region for future generations.
Risking so much of what we value, however, is the windfarm proposed by RES on Mullaghclogher (known locally as The Moat) , at the heart of the Aughabrack and Plumbridge communities in Co.Tyrone .If permitted it will be an industrial multi turbine development measuring 180m in height and with a hugely negative physical and visual footprint within the Sperrin AONB .The immediate local environmental impact will be significant, with the real potential also for long term issues arising out of destabilising multiple layers of peatland.
We at Save The Moat – Save The Sperrins have many genuine concerns in relation to this proposal. They include the potential for negative impacts on our health, our quality of life, community wellbeing, reduced property values, and loss of opportunity and earnings within key industries such as tourism. We have concerns also that this development will lead to a permanent decline in our local rural population with upcoming generations in particular choosing to live elsewhere.
In the Derry City & Strabane District Council area and the wider North West windfarm development has reached saturation point. We estimate the wind farms already located in our district council area alone currently covers well beyond the domestic electricity needs of Derry City & Strabane District Council and a significant proportion of our non-domestic needs. Our local communities have paid a huge sacrifice to allow this to happen, and the full cost to these communities is poorly understood and not monitored.
At Save the Moat our mission is threefold. We want first and foremost to stop the Mullaghclogher windfarm proposal and all windfarm development proposals within the Sperrin Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; Secondly we want a balanced and regional approach to the reduction of CO2 emissions – using solutions such as expanding the gas network, harnessing the power of water and tides, solar panels on properties, and carbon capture through the restoration of our bogs and peatlands; and finally we are seeking a review of all windfarm activity in general , and calling on local and central governments to investigate the full impacts of existing wind energy production through direct engagement with host communities . Our experience talking to residents in existing windfarm communities is that their quality of life has been negatively impacted and that they have been largely ignored and forgotten
At Save the Moat We are now calling on all our elected representatives and the wider public to support our campaign.