Eneco
Wind UK Ltd (Eneco) and EDF Energy Renewables have today formally submitted their
application for consent to develop the Navitus Bay Wind Park on the south coast
to the Planning Inspectorate.

If
the application is accepted for examination and if the scheme is granted
planning permission, the Navitus Bay windfarm would see up to 194, 200m-tall
wind turbines constructed in Christchurch Bay, 8.6 miles south west from the
Needles – larger than any existing offshore wind farm.

This
project is predicted to produce enough energy to provide power for 710,000
homes.

Mike
Unsworth, Project Director at Navitus Bay, said: ‘If PINS accept the
application, it moves into the pre-examination phase, during which members of
the public can make representations directly to PINS, detailing their views on
the wind park.

‘Once PINS has confirmed acceptance of our application, we will
provide details on how the public can make representations.

‘After the
pre-examination phase, the examination phase starts, during which PINS
considers the application and all representations to decide whether a
Development Consent Order will be awarded to the project.’

The
Royal Yachting Association has pledged to examine navigational risks assessment
for the wind farm.

Stuart
Carruthers, RYA cruising manager said: ‘Naturally, if the application is accepted
for examination, the RYA will be registering with the Planning Inspectorate as
an interested party in order to represent recreational boating interests.

‘The
RYA raised a number of navigational issues with the developer during the
consultation stage which we are pleased to say were satisfactorily resolved.

‘Now
that the full application has been completed we will want to understand how
shipping and navigation will be affected and how the marine navigational safety
risks have been assessed in the application documents.’