BCP Council leader says there is no plan to revisit wind farm

BCP Council leader Cllr Drew Mellor said the local authority was doing “a lot” around solar farms and hydrogen as part of the Conservative administration’s “green and sustainable agenda”.

Referencing the suggestions an offshore wind farm would affect tourism, Cllr Mellor said looking again at the concept was not on the table.

This summer a petition was launched calling for the Navitus Bay plan to be looked at again.

The contentious project was rejected by the government in 2015 after fierce debate from those in favour and those opposed to the scheme.

Navitus Bay, which was proposed by firms Eneco and EDF Energy, would have seen 121 wind turbines installed around 10 kilometres off the Dorset coast.

Back in February, Cllr Mellor said he did not feel a wind farm was needed given other renewable options when discussing the council’s new green futures fund.

• Read more: Petition to reconsider Navitus Bay wind farm off Dorset coast

During a live BCP Council Facebook broadcast earlier this month, he was asked if the local authority would revisit wind turbines, either at sea or on land.

Cllr Mellor said: “There is no plan at all around wind farms that is on our table at the moment, so it is not something we are looking at.

“I think we have been quite clear that the previous, about five years ago, plan for a tourist destination that wasn’t the right place for wind but we are doing a lot of things.

Cllr Drew Mellor

“If something else comes forward, we would look at it in a wider Dorset context, but we are really clear about trying to keep that tourist space, those tourist views.

“We are doing a lot, a huge amount in terms of solar farms, we are doing a lot in terms of hydrogen as well, so we are trying to look at a myriad of ways we can develop that.

“Specifically in terms of your question around wind farms, no, no it is not.”

Cllr Mellor said the war in Ukraine had shown how energy had become a “real weapon” used by Vladimir Putin.

“It is how places can become more self-sufficient and countries can become more self-sufficient is really important,” he said.

“It massively aligns to our real push on our green and sustainable agenda.

“In our last budget we put £20million of capital money available for our green futures fund, so that is to invest in projects and a lot of that may be carbon-saving projects and renewable energy.

“We are really trying to do a lot.”