AN environmental organisation has called on decision-makers to give “a measured and informed response” to proposals for a wind farm off the Dorset coast.

The latest round of consultation over Navitus Bay – a joint venture between Dutch firm Eneco and French energy company EDF – has now closed and an Environmental Impact Assessment is being prepared.

With feelings running high from opponents about the siting of the park 12 miles from Bournemouth – which could include as many as 218 turbines as high as 200m – East Dorset Friends of the Earth is calling on councillors, MPs and businesses “to take a long-term, dispassionate view about wind energy and its vital role in reducing the devastating consequences of pollution and climate change”.

EDFOE spokesman, Dr Martin Price, said: “Local people are rightly concerned about possible impacts from any wind farm development upon the local environment and economy.

“However, a lot of what has been said by opponents of the scheme has been emotive and ill-informed.

“Most people support clean wind energy; it has to go in someone’s back yard and unless there is a compelling environmental case against it, then it should be ours. On balance and pending details of the EIA, there is no case for not supporting the Navitus Bay proposals.”

EDFOE said that the Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Renewable Energy Strategy, approved by the three councils, had an “ambitious” target of obtaining 15 per cent of the county’s energy from renewable sources by 2020.

But Bournemouth council leader Cllr John Beesley said it estimated, based on research carried out in Scotland, that the wind farm could lose the town £20 million a year, as previously reported.

He added: “While the council fully supports alternative more sustainable energy sources in Bournemouth, we can’t justify such a blow to our tourism economy.

“We have consistently called on Eneco to consider locating the wind farm further out to sea in order to eliminate its visible impact on the natural environment and protect the World Heritage site of the Jurassic coast, and will continue to do so. We must do everything possible to protect our visual environment in the interests of local residents and the tourism economy.”

Alongside main opposition group Challenge Navitus, Dorset MPs have expressed worries, with several signing a letter earlier this year calling on the Government to reconsider its support for wind power. The proposals will eventually be considered by the Planning Inspectorate.

‘Calculate height of turbines with spreadsheet’

BOURNEMOUTH councillor Mike Greene has created a spreadsheet tool that he says will allow users to enter a turbine’s height and distance in order to compare it with a landmark of their choice.

Cllr Greene said he had “tried to dust off the cobwebs from my Oxford University maths degree” to create the tool.

View the spreadsheet alongside an explanation of the maths behind it below.

Turbine Height Calculations

Wind Height Turbine Calculations