New Forest Transition

Hello all

I'm sure that most people are aware of the proposed wind farm off the Isle of Wight (West Coast) and that it is still very much in the public consultation stage.

I went along to Eneco's exhibition evening last night in the Lymington Community Centre to find out more about it. It was extremely interesting to find out more about this technology and their plans, and incredible how much environmental mitigation, consultation, surveys and risk assessments they have to do before it gets approved.

I was already in favour of the development and welcomed the futuristic view of these silent giants off our coastline - a sign of a more sustainable future! After visiting the exhibition and talking to their staff my concerns about environmental degredation and habitat fragmentation to the on-shore development (where the cables go to the substation) have been disolved.

I already knew quite a bit about the turbines impact in the sea and they were able to confirm that rather than causing damage, over time the area that of course can no longer be fished or sailed through in fact creates a nursery/nature reserve area, and that the impact on birds is extremely minimal as they are good at avoiding them!

As of Monday, they will have the information from the exhibition on their website, and you are able to support (or express concerns) to them online too. It would be great if as many people as possible show their support, and look out for other methods which we can show support in local press. I caught sight of an article in this weeks 'Lymington Times' about a protest set up outside the exhibition in Christchurch last week. The people we spoke to at the Lymington exhibition came up against quite a few people that we dead against it and would not even listen to them. They are going to need all the support they can get I think!!

This is their website:

http://www.navitusbaywindpark.co.uk/

Grace (Lymington Transition group)