RECENTLY I attended the public exhibition at the Royal Bath Hotel by Eneco, the company to which the Crown Estates have granted the development rights for the wind farm off our beaches.

Given the near-complete dearth of publicity, I was not surprised that, throughout my visit, Bournemouth residents were far outnumbered by the smiling publicists employed by Eneco to sell the idea to us and guide our thinking in the right direction.

Like Eneco’s website, with its questionnaire worthy of a Soviet election or a script from Yes Minister, the exhibition seemed more about informing opinion than informing visitors.

Despite promises of “independently produced photomontages” showing how the wind farm might look from the beach, the only actual photos were of much shorter turbines than the 500ft giants coming our way. The mock-ups showed how just a single turbine would appear at a distance, rather than the forest of nearly 200 planned for us.

The one useful thing to come out of attending was to read – not that the exhibitors seemed keen to point it out – about the Zone Appraisal Process, under which Eneco are obliged to listen to the views of the public about where the turbines should be sited within a zone.

That zone reaches from south of the Isle of Wight to opposite Weymouth; and from close in, to many miles out.

Please write to Eneco at: Units 3 & 4 Athena Court, Athena Drive, Tachbrook Park, Warwick, Warwickshire, CV34 6RT or email them at: info@enecowindoffshore.co.uk. Tell them of your fear for Bournemouth’s tourism if Eneco strips the town of its great asset by choosing to put the turbines where they will devastate the unspoilt, peaceful view our visitors come for.

Mike Greene, West Overcliff Drive, Bournemouth