The latest round of public drop in sessions on the proposed Navitus Bay windfarm will begin today in Dorset.

Eight lots of three-hour events are being held in eight different
locations across the south coast region to give local communities an
opportunity to learn more about the development, which if granted
planning permission, could see work begin in 2015.

It follows a series of public exhibitions in
February and comes as Navitus Bay prepares for the next round of
community consultation in September.

Mike Unsworth, Project Director of Navitus Bay, said: ‘Navitus Bay is committed to communicating honestly and openly with
members of the public to ensure that they are given as much information
as possible about the proposed wind park, which will deliver significant
economic benefits to the local community.

‘We have been carrying out comprehensive consultation with the
community since 2010.

‘As a result of the feedback we have gathered to
date, we have scaled back the project and moved the northern boundary
further away from the shore.

‘We are still listening and will continue to act on the feedback we
receive. We would therefore encourage as many people as possible to come
to these sessions to hear more about our proposals and to make their
views known.’

Sessions began this morning at St Edwards Church Hall, Swanage and will continue this afternoon from 2pm to 5pm in Room 3b, at the RNLI College, West Quay Road, Poole.

Forthcoming sessions:

Thursday 27 June:

9am to 12pm, Riviera Suite, Menzies Carlton Hotel, East Overcliff Grove Road, Bournemouth, Dorset.

2pm to 5pm, West Moors Pavilion, Fryer Field, Bond Avenue, West Moors.

Wednesday 3 July:

9am to 12pm , Hope Jones Room, Lymington Community Centre, New Street, Lymington.

2pm to 5pm,
Phase 3 Lounge, The Riverside Centre, The Quay, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 2QR

Thursday 4 July:

9am to 12pm, New Milton Town Hall, 2 Ashley Road, New Milton, BH25 6AS

2pm to 5pm, Georgian Lounge, The Kings Arms, 18 Castle Street, Christchurch, BH23 1DT

Challenge Navitus

The campaign group, Challenge Navitus, which opposes the windfarm proposal has today announced that emerging guidance on
wind farm visualisations supports its mages of ‘the huge
Navitus Bay wind farm off the coasts of Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of
Wight.’

The current
guidelines, as used by developer Navitus Bay Development Limited (NBDL), have been criticised for permitting visualisations that can misrepresent the
scale and distance of developments.

In February, following
the third round of public consultation, Challenge Navitus and local community
leaders condemned NBDL’s visuals for understating the impact of the giant
turbines when viewed from the coast.

Scottish Natural
Heritage, which was responsible for the current guidance, has recently
published a draft revision which calls for images at precisely the scale used
by Challenge Navitus.

The same
format has already been officially adopted by the Highland Council which has
much experience of wind farms in Scotland.

Dr
Andrew Langley of Challenge Navitus, said: ‘At last, it looks
like the improved methods are making their way into national advice.

‘While visual impact is just one issue,
this wind farm would have a very significant effect on our seascape, so it is
important to know how it might look.

‘At the moment, only our website, www.challengenavitus.org.uk
has reference images of this radical proposal in line with the latest
developments in guidance’

He added: ‘It’s up to NBDL to
follow suit. We are concerned that many people may already
have been swayed by images that do not give a proper perception of scale and
distance.

‘We encourage everyone to compare our images with NBDL’s, preferably
on site, to judge for themselves.’

Find out more about the Navitus Bay Wind Park scheme at www.navitusbaywindpark.co.uk

(Pictures show the a Navitus Bay Development Limited artist impression and map above and the Challenge Navitus artist impression below)