A controversial proposal to develop a £100 million (€122 million) biomass power plant in Co Antrim that would have been fuelled by poultry litter has been refused planning permission by the North’s environment minister, Alex Attwood.

Rose Energy, a joint venture between Moy Park and Glenfarm Holdings, first unveiled plans four years ago to build an energy-from-waste facility in Glenavy, a rural location near the shores of Lough Neagh.

Moy Park, Northern Ireland’s largest food processing company, and Glenfarm, an agricultural co-operative, had claimed the proposed plant would provide enough renewable energy to power 30,000 homes and deal with the issue of disposing of poultry litter. The proposal generated heated debate, attracting more than 13,000 representations, just over half of which opposed the plant.