Just three
days remain until a public consultation on a proposed windfarm for the south
coast closes.

The third round of public consultation will end on 5 April following a flurry of last minute drop-in sessions held by the developers of the Navitus
Bay Wind Park.

Written views and opinions must be in by that date to be registered.

Drop in sessions are taking place tomorrow, April 3, from 9am-12pm, at New Milton
Town Council,, 2 Ashley Road, New Milton and from
2-5pm in Portfield Community Hall, Portfield Road,
Christchurch.

The last drop-in session will be held on Thursday, April 4, from 9am-12pm, at Lymington Community Centre in New Street, Lymington.

The
Challenge Navitus opposition group are urging members of the public to have
their say on the proposed 67 sq mile, 200-plus wind turbine development off
Poole and Christchurch bays before it is too late.

They say the public consultation exhibitions have been poorly placed and without
appropriate signage to encourage visitors although the
developers insist
they are complying with pre-application procedural process.

Challenge Navitus give the example of last month’s public meeting hosted by Bournemouth councillors at the Royal Bath
Hotel which attracted 400 attendees, compared to 200 visitors at Navitus Bay Development Limited’s (NBDL) previous
formal Bournemouth exhibition.

The Poole
exhibition was held at the RNLI HQ without a single banner or poster, say the
opposition group, while for the exhibition week in Swanage, with its
shoreline the closest to the development at under nine miles, there was no
advertising at all in the local weekly press, and current full page adverts do
not mention the 5 April close of consultation.

In December, it was announced that the proposed wind farm had been reduced from 333 to 218 turbines while the
distance of the nearest turbine to Hengistbury Head had increased from
13.5km to 16.41km.

Yet Challenge Navitus believe it’s the ‘wrong plan in the wrong place’ and say it is not too late for public opinion to halt the plans.

Group
spokesman Mike Owen said: ‘Even if your opinions have not changed since the
last round of consultation, you do need to write again as NBDL could
argue that previous concerns were addressed by the recent small
reduction in size of the windfarm.

‘And be
aware, that reduction was not primarily a reaction to public concern, but the
result of an over-riding objection by Trinity House and the Maritime Coastguard
Agency (MCA) on a navigational issue.’

He added:
‘Please don’t just complete the developer’s online form.

‘It is vital
to write to or email NBDL directly, and be sure to copy your MP, elected
local councillors and consultees such as the RSPB, Natural England, National
Trust, MCA and RYA so they also are aware of your views.

‘You need
write only one master email and then circulate using either the ‘cc’ or ‘bcc’
function.

‘Be
specific and clear about your opinions, clearly state ‘I object’ or ‘I support’
so that NBDL knows how to categorise your response.’

‘Numbers
count; everyone in your household can write separately, and that’s many more
opinions expressed.’

Mike Unsworth,
project director for NBDL, said: ‘Phase three consultation continues until
Friday, 5 April and we would encourage as many as possible to make their views
known.

‘Project information
is currently displayed in public libraries and on our website where you can
complete an online consultation form.’

Visit the Navitus
Bay website www.navitusbaywindpark.co.uk, call the official helpline 0800 008 6763 – 9am – 5.30pm Monday to Friday or e-mail info@navitusbay.com.

Find the Challenge Navitus opposition group
website at www.challengenavitus.org.uk.

(The top picture shows the Challenge Navitus group’s artist impression of the proposed scheme from Durlston’s viewpoint while the second shows the developers’ artist impression of the viewpoint from Swanage)