The whole debate about the Navitus Bay Wind Farm proposal has become more and more bizarre as on one hand objectors clutch at flimsy straws to beef up their argument (much of it based on propaganda fed to them by the right wing press), and on the other hand some Councillors and MPs who have lost any objectivity and have developed selective deafness.

The latest mantra is “lack of information” (e.g. Conor Burns 18/10). I initially drafted a list of facts and information that has been made available by Navitus, and exist out there in established practice, which address the popular “concerns”, but this was way too long to publish in a letter.

Initially I will make a prediction. If the Navitus Bay Offshore Wind Farm ever gets built, within a very short period of time the vast majority of people who live in or visit the area will wonder what all the fuss was about, and many will grow to like it and will want to take a pleasure cruise to go out and visit it.

I will concentrate on two areas that have raised concern, and one positive that has not been raised yet in these columns.

Much has been argued about visual representations. Anybody who owns an old film SLR camera can check this for themselves. The images presented by Navitus are based on a 50mm setting, and is the recognised standard they are required to work to. This is as near as you can get to how you would see it with the unaided naked eye (the full size digital SLR equivalent setting would be around 38mm).

Navitus prepared a set of 70mm views (slight telephoto) which they have been unable to use during formal consultation because it is not the accepted standard. The Government are currently looking into changes that would allow a view that equates to 70 or 75mm to be used. Challenge Navitus demand views that are closer to full on telephoto views.

Night views have been raised recently. Hasn’t any of the objectors noticed the plethora of winking buoys, passing ships and the odd lighthouse beam – not to forget the land based lights that can be seen from within the bay?

The other nonsense is the issue of underground cables. Has anybody ever asked themselves how the electricity which feeds individual properties and the nearby transformers get there?

Again there is information available as to how Navitus would deal with cables under sensitive sites, using technology that has enabled oil to be drilled for under Studland, Arne & Poole Bay.

This compares favourably with the cut and fill employed a few years ago across vast tracts of the New Forest and surrounding countryside to put in a gas/oil pipeline from Wytch Farm to Fawley.

Now for the positive... If the off shore wind farm does get built then there will be a vast area of sea bed that will be out of bounds to trawlers. This should provide more opportunities for fish and other creatures to breed and develop in safety. This should in turn help revive our local fishing industry as stocks build up.

This is one of the reasons why Navitus have been asked to keep and open mind as to how much of the structures are removed when they are life expired. Nature conservation bodies will want to check the situation out in case valuable reefs have been created.

Though it is an accepted fact that this and other off shore wind farms will only generate at full capacity for between 30 and 35% of the time, that is a one third cut in the amount of expensive oil and gas used (the main factor in recent price hikes), and a reduced amount of hazardous nuclear waste (coming to a pit near you?) being produced. Isn’t it better to use what gas we have as gas, rather than to generate electricity.

The big cost in wind farms is putting in the infrastructure to start with, much as the case with any new power generation and transmission project. Unlike the others, the raw material, once it’s up and running, is free and does not produce expensive waste that needs to be disposed of.

Hopefully we can expand our horizons and look to the future for our children and grandchildren, rather than the short term-ism and denial that currently prevails.

Councillor Tony Trent – Chair of Environment Scrutiny, Poole