THE planning process for the controversial Navitus Bay Wind Park will get down to the nitty-gritty next week, with the developer’s ‘Plan B’ the first thing on the agenda.

As reported in the Daily Echo, the Planning Inspectorate will hold a series of issue-specific hearings at the Highcliff Marriott Hotel in St Michael’s Road, Bournemouth.

Following October’s open-floor hearing at the BIC, those with an interest in the plans will now get to discuss each aspect in detail.

Navitus Bay Development Limited (NBDL) wants to build as many as 194 turbines, which could be up to 200 metres tall, 13 miles from Bournemouth and Poole and nine from Swanage.

But, last week, it put forward a ‘mitigation option’, which would see no more than 105 turbines, no closer than 11 miles from shore.

The proposal was blasted by opponents, who are calling for the planning process to start from scratch.

At the first issue-specific hearing next Tuesday, the first item on the agenda will see the examining panel ask the applicant for more detail on the purpose of the second plan, the extent of additional information that NBDL will provide and what consultation it plans to carry out.

The hearings, to be held between November 18-21 and November 25-27, will then move into looking in detail at each aspect of the wind farm and its potential impacts – including visual impact, the environment, noise and tourism – something that Bournemouth Borough Council has raised serious concerns about.

Previously, Mike Unsworth, project director at NBDL, said that it remained “confident that we have made a strong and comprehensive case”.

But opposition groups such as Poole and Christchurch Bays Association and Challenge Navitus say that the wind farm will have significant negative impacts.

East Dorset Friends of the Earth has called the negativity “misguided”.

 

• Information on meetings...

HEARINGS on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, November 18-20, will look at the mitigation option, marine and coastal physical processes, commercial fisheries and fishing, offshore water and air quality, drainage and water supply, noise, vibration, health impacts, biodiversity, operational and navigational safety, highways, traffic and transportation and policy will all take place.

Friday, November 21, is reserved if required and the venue each day will be the Highcliff Marriott Hotel in St Michael’s Road.

Further hearings will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, November 25-27, at the Wessex Hotel in West Cliff Road.

Topics will include offshore and onshore heritage, including the World Heritage site, landscape, seascape and visual impacts and socio-economic impacts, including tourism. Friday, November 28, has been reserved if needed.

Doors open each day at 9am and the meetings start at 10am.

An open-floor hearing will be held on the Isle of Wight on December 2 and further meetings will be held in Bournemouth in January.