Navitus Bay events to be held across Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

A series of public exhibitions will be taking place to enable people to find out more about a proposed wind park off the Dorset coast.

The events follow a previous announcement by Navitus Bay Development Limited that its scheme would be smaller and further out to sea.

Eight exhibitions will be held from Friday 1 February,
to enable members of the public to view and comment on the
latest plans:

  • West
    Moors Memorial Hall,
    231 Station Road, West Moors, Ferndown, BH22 0HZ, Friday 1 February
    2013, 2pm – 8pm;
  • Bournemouth
    International Centre,
    Bourne Lounge, Exeter Road, Bournemouth, BH2 5BH,
    Saturday 2 February, 10am – 4pm;
  • RNLI
    Lifeboat College,
    West Quay Road, Poole, BH15 1HZ, Wednesday 6 February,
    2pm – 8pm;
  • New
    Milton Community Centre,
    Osborne Road, New Milton, BH25 6EA, Thursday 7 February,
    2pm – 8pm;
  • Lymington
    Community Centre,
    Fuller/McLellan Hall, New Street, Lymington, SO41 9BQ, Friday
    8 February, 2pm – 8pm;
  • Cowes
    Yacht Haven,
    Vectis Yard, High Street, Cowes, Isle of Wight, PO31 7BD, Saturday
    9 February, 10am – 4pm;
  • Christchurch
    Council Chambers,
    Bridge Street, Christchurch, BH23 1AX, Tuesday 12 February,
    2pm – 8pm;
  • St
    Edwards Church Hall,
    Victoria Avenue, Swanage, BH19 1AH, Wednesday 13 February,
    2pm – 8pm.

It will be the first
opportunity for members of the public to view the proposed onshore underground
cable route, which will transfer the electricity generated offshore in to the
national network.

In December, it was announced that the proposed Navitus Bay Wind Park
in Poole Bay has 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.

Phase Three of Navitus
Bay’s public consultation programme will run from Friday 1 February to Friday 5 April.

At the public exhibition events, members of the
project team will be on hand to talk through the plans and answer any
questions, there will also be visualisations of how the wind park
could look from the coast and an interactive 3D model.

Consultation documents will be available at the events and will also be available for collection from public libraries for
the duration of the consultation period.

Mike Unsworth, Project
Director for Navitus Bay Development Limited, said: ‘Navitus Bay takes its
engagement with local communities extremely seriously and is committed to using
feedback received from the community to help shape the proposals.

‘As a direct
result of discussions with statutory consultees and local communities, we have
reduced the size of the wind park and moved it further out to sea and are now
looking forward to discussing the latest detailed plans.


‘The exhibitions in
February are just one of the ways that we hope to work together with the local
community.

‘We are also launching a new and interactive project website in
February where people can access all the latest news and proposals, leave
feedback and ask questions.

‘Navitus Bay has always said that no decisions will
be made without comprehensive consultation with all interested parties so we
would encourage as many people as possible to take part in the process and give
us their views.’

In a typical year, based on an approximate maximum installed
capacity of 1,100MW, the scheme could generate enough electricity for the
domestic needs of the equivalent of around 790,000 average UK households and
could offset approximately 1,150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each yea.

To find out more call the Navitus Bay dedicated community line 0800 008 6763 or email info@navitusbay.com.

Find out more on the Navitus Bay wind park website.