I SPOKE twice at the Navitus Bay public inquiry in my previous role as president of the Bournemouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce.

The independent body in charge of the process decided against granting permissions.

Prior to the lengthy process which came with the final determination for the government, many bodies like Bournemouth Chamber had several direct meeting with the French-Dutch partnership that were keen to secure government funding for the project which would at that point have been the largest number and the tallest wind turbines ‘off shore’ to that date.

At one meeting , I asked the Navitus representatives that if the residents of Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch were willing to endure the five years of construction of the 300 turbines on our UNESCO recognised Jurassic Coast, endangering the fragile seahorse community there, would EDF give free electricity to all BH postcode residents ? The response was extended laughter.

So, having hundreds of four bedroom house sized concrete blocks driven into our submissive sea bed ( turning our Blue Flag waters brown for sixty months ) it would come with the understanding that the company would be responsible for decommissioning in the twenty fifth year of their functioning and practical mechanical life expectancy. Now, no-one would ever expect these companies to cease trading after twenty four years of course.

Asking for the sound reports, which were finally supplied two years later, they were discovered to be for over (rural) land and not over ‘a hard water surface’. Again , I asked , would these windmills be synchronised to prevent a thumping “wumpf , wumpf , wumpf” perpetual noise heading towards the acoustic lens of chalk cliffs which would prove ruinous for our shoreline hospitality industry where a peaceful night would be expected and essential ? No reply was forthcoming.

It would of course “create thousands of jobs” but with the unrecyclable blades coming from the Isle of Wight via Portsmouth and our busy coastal roads , we then found out the main electricity cables would come ashore at Hurst Castle and cross the New Forest National Park in a motorway-width trench to join the National Grid at Salisbury.

Macerating of seabirds ? Never mentioned.

Dangers to yachtsmen ? Those who spoke assured the Arbiters that they would move their yachts out of Poole Harbour to more Westerly ports as wind and tide could not ensure safe navigation of such a huge field of obstacles.

(The main field was relocated slightly in the plans when a huge dumped pile of Second World War ordnance on the seabed was located.)

If there is no wind, there is no electricity generated of course. If there is too much wind , the turbines are turned off but compensation to the generating company has to be paid when this occurs. Many have noted how turbines turn when there is no wind. This is because they have to be permanently lubricated and made to stay warm ! This then takes electricity from the grid.

With the thrust for electric cars , many are questioning the source of the vital (huge) magnets, and the huge numbers of same, required for these fields of slashing blades. The minerals mined and transported can only be guessed at in ‘carbon footprint’ terms.

Many have said that off-shore wind farms are great tourist attractions and I have seen boats leaving Brighton Marina on such jaunts as indeed they probably do at Great Yarmouth.

Would Navitus have rebuilt our Bournemouth Pier for modern pleasure cruise traffic I wonder?

These are just some of factors that swayed the decision makers.

Those who now see a Mojave Desert-like pile of broken discarded wind turbines in America’s forgotten wastelands out-West can only estimate how long it will be before they start to degrade……

The phrase “seems like a good idea” can come back to bite you but being aware of all the facts is essential so we can only thank the public inquiry for what it achieved.

Nigel Hedges

Granville Place