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Advice to Gerald Austin

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Enquiry

From
Gerald Austin
Date advice given
28 October 2014
Enquiry type
Email

When the Jurassic Coast was given World Heritage status, by UNESCO the UK govt was charged with ensuring its status in perpetuity against massive industrial development. The proposed Wind Farm in Poole Bay, Dorset, with a minimum of 194-plus towers and turbines, 200m tall, if allowed to proceed will totally wreck the superb landscape/seascape of the Jurassic Coast. And all towns along the coast. UNESCO has stated that if the development proceeds, it will withdraw its natural World Heritage status, the only one in Britain, on a par with the Grand Canyon, USA. All local organisations and town councils are against it and it will ruin one of the most protected coastal landscapes of Durlston which is an AONB plus many SSI's and a vast area of Purbeck and coastal landscape which visitors come from far and wide to enjoy. I believe the British government is not doing enough to protect this area of AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), and is reneging on its duty to protect this area.

Advice given

Thank you for your email to the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon David Cameron of 15 October 2014 in relation to the proposed Navitus Bay Wind Park.

Your letter has been passed to me as it relates to a proposed nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP). I have been asked to reply as the Planning Inspectorate, as the agency of the Department for Communities and Local Government responsible for examining NSIP applications for development consent under the Planning Act 2008 (the PA2008).

Offshore generating stations in England or Wales that have a capacity of more than 100 megawatts are classified as NSIPs. Therefore, for any development of this nature and above the threshold an applicant is obliged to submit an application to the relevant Secretary of State for development consent under the PA2008. As you are aware this application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on 10 April 2014, and was then subsequently accepted for examination on 8 May 2014.

I note that you made a ?relevant representation? within the correct period which closed on 23 June 2014, and you are therefore registered as an ?interested party? in the examination. This gives members of the public an opportunity to participate in the examination of the application.

The Secretary of State appointed the ?Examining Authority? to examine the application. As you may be aware the Examining Authority reviewed the application and all relevant representations and identified the principal issues for examination. Following this, the Planning Inspectorate invited all interested parties to attend a meeting, known as the Preliminary Meeting, which was held to consider how the application will be examined. The meeting included questions and answers about the key issues that will need to be examined, the timetable for the examination and other important organisational details.

The Examining Authority will now investigate the merits of the application during the examination stage which started the day after the close of the Preliminary Meeting. The meeting was held on 11 September 2014, at Tregonwell Hall, Bournemouth International Centre, Exeter Road, Bournemouth, BH2 5BH.

The Examining Authority has a statutory duty to complete its examination within 6 months. The examination is a formal legal process, during which careful consideration is given to all the important and relevant matters, including the representations of all interested parties, any evidence submitted and answers provided to questions set out in writing and explained at hearings.

Within three months of the six month examination period closing the Examining Authority must prepare a report on the application to the relevant Secretary of State, in this case the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. The report will include a recommendation. The Secretary of State then has a further three months to make the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.

The Planning Inspectorate has published a series of advice notes which explain the process, including information on how to get involved. These are available at the following web address: http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/legislation-andadvice/ advice-notes You may wish to sign up on this webpage to receive email alerts on the progress of the project.