Challenge Navitus, the organisation that opposed the proposed 59-square mile off-shore Navitus Bay wind farm that would be visible from the Isle of Wight, has delivered its objections to the new planning application just days after the application was submitted on Thursday, the Telegraph reports.
Planning decision not made locally
This planning application process (details) is not examined by a local planning authority, but by ‘National Infrastructure Planning’. Their recommendation is then made to the Secretary of State for Energy who makes the decision.
11-page document
The 11-page document details the complaint to the Planning Inspectorate claiming that images of the wind farm, commissioned by the Navitus Bay, “under-represented the visual impact”.
Dr Andrew Langley of the Challenge Navitus group claims that the company’s use of panoramic computer simulations gives an impression the turbines would be “much smaller than you would perceive in real life”.
The group also claims that some of the images are too low resolution or have mistakes.
Navitus Bay: “Every confidence” in images
Mike Unsworth, Navitus Bay project director, told the Telegraph that its visualisations were “in strict accordance with the recognised industry standards” and it had “every confidence” in them.
Dr Langley, of Challenge Navitus told the Bournemouth Echo, “As a result of incomplete, unclear and even misleading information, people have been ill-prepared to respond. We now look to the Planning Inspectorate to ensure that the public will become fully informed before any examination of NBDL’s application begins.”
Image: Challenge Navitus simulation
