25 September 2013 17:34 Conor Burns MP <news@conorburns.com> To: news@conorburns.com Reply-To: news@conorburns.

com News Bulletin from Conor Burns MP #111 - STOP NAVITUS WIND FARM SPECIAL EDITION
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In this edition:

Issue 111 Stop Navitus Wind Farm Special Edition Wednesday 25th September 2013

Stop Navitus Bay Wind Farm Navitus Bay Wind Farm interview Conor in Parliament: Conor speaks out against Navitus Wind Farm in Commons debate Conor in the papers: Local MPs call for wind Farm re-think Conor in the papers: Calls for Navitus Bay wind farm to be moved further offshore How to contact Conor Burns MP

Stop Navitus Bay Wind Farm

PLEASE SHARE THIS BULLETIN WITH ANY AND ALL WHO YOU FEEL WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THEIR SAY ON THE PROPOSED NAVITUS BAY WIND FARM. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ALL THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE DEVELOPMENT MAKE THEIR FEELINGS KNOW TO NBDL BEFORE 11 OCTOBER.

Since my election as MP for Bournemouth West, I have been overwhelmed by the level of opposition raised by constituents to the proposed Navitus Bay wind farm off the Dorset coast. Hundreds of residents have contacted me to protest the impact that the wind farm will have on our town, on our tourism industry, and on our wildlife. I have also heard from others across the county and beyond who wanted to let me, as a Bournemouth MP, know of their dismay that our fantastic beach and cliff views would be compromised. Navitus Bay Development Limiteds (NBDL) own research shows that some 14 per cent of visitors will not come back to the town if the turbines are visible from the shore, and one third said they would not visit during the 4year construction period. That would be devastating to our tourism economy. While I fully recognise that a diverse energy mix is best able to secure Britains future energy supplies, I do not believe that that a wind farm so close to Dorsets beaches, unique marine environment and its Jurassic Coast would be in the right place. Department for Energy and Climate Change guidelines state that offshore wind farms should be sited 12 nautical miles (nmi) from the coast. At its nearest point, the proposed wind farm would be just 7 nmi from the shore, and only 10 nmi from Bournemouth. This would be totally inappropriate, and some have suggested that it could jeopardise the World Heritage Status itself. I have therefore been working alongside Bournemouth Borough Council to ensure that residents views are known to NBDL, and at the very least to push them to site the development further out to sea, where its impact on the town will be reduced. I have also been working to ensure above all that Ministers appreciate the strength of feeling among local people, local authorities and indeed myself and my colleagues that the proposed wind farm is basically in the wrong place, and should be refused. This is because, in any event, the development application will not be decided by any local authority. As a major infrastructure project, the application will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination, prior to a decision by the Secretary of State. I am seeking confirmation that the public, local authorities and MPs will be given the opportunity to comment formally at that stage so that the Government is fully aware of our views before a decision on the application is made. After Parliament returns from the conference recess, I will be applying to the Speaker for a backbench business debate on this matter. The position we are in at the moment is that NBDL is consulting, in order to understand public views and to decide how to address them. If you have not already done so, I urge you to register your views with NBDL direct, via the following website. The consultation is due to close on Friday 11 October, so it is important that you make your views known before that date: www.navitusbaywindpark.co.uk I would find it very helpful to have sight of any email that you send. Please forward this bulletin to any who you think would also like to have their say on the proposed wind farm. It is vitally important that all those who oppose the development make their feelings known to NBDL. Below, you can find a selection of articles and statements that outline my views on the development, and how I have been working for you to oppose it.

Conor Burns MP

Navitus Bay Wind Farm interview

Click on the image above to watch a package on the Navitus Bay Wind Farm, featuring an interview with Conor Burns MP.

Conor in Parliament:

Conor speaks out against Navitus Wind Farm in Commons debate

Click on the image above to watch Conors speech on the Navitus Wind Farm. The full text of Conors speech was as follows: Conor Burns (Bournemouth West, Conservative): It is a pleasure to make a brief contribution to this debate. I shall not dwell on the points that my hon. Friend Richard Drax has made so eloquently about the philosophy behind offshore or, indeed, onshore wind, about which my hon. Friend Chris Heaton-Harris has also spoken at length in the past, except to say, as my right hon. and noble Friend the Baroness Thatcher once did: Nothing is more obstinate than a fashionable consensus. This is a profoundly serious issue for my constituents and, indeed, for the entirety of the conurbation, and that is demonstrated by the fact that my hon. Friends the Members for Poole (Mr Syms) and for Christchurch (Mr Chope) and my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour Mr Ellwoodthe entire conurbationare in the Chamber this evening to highlight our profound and real concerns and reservations. Bournemouth is well known to Members, who go there for the party conferences and will have all stood in the Highcliff hotel and enjoyed the incredible views across the bay. The bay and the view are the hook on which our local tourism economy hangs. The vital prosperity of our area is dependent on that, and we have profound reservations about this scheme and what it may do to the tourism economy. I have extreme concerns about the process of consultation in which Eneco is involved. The initial consultation did not fill us with confidence; it included questions such as: How far do you agree with the following statement? People have a not in my back yard attitude to wind parks. How far do you agree with the following statement? I am happy to live close to an offshore wind park if it helps to combat climate changeHow many average households energy consumption do you think an offshore wind park can produce in one year? Those are not open-minded consultation questions, but dogma-driven ones. We also have real concerns about the inability so far of the company to provide us with real graphics about what the park will look like. The company keeps telling us that it cannot yet do that because it does not know where in the development area the farm will be, how many turbines there will be or what height they will be. If the company does not know all those things, I find it strange that it can tell us exactly the quantity of energy the wind farm is intended to produce. When the company does give us illustrative graphics, they are of a dusky winter scene. We want them to show the wind farm at the height of the season on a clear, blue-sky day or on a clear night, so that we can see what it would mean for the area. We are concerned about the economic impact assessment. In fairness, the company is seeking to talk to more than 400 businesses, but some are up to 10 miles away from the coastal area. That will not give us meaningful data about the potential impact on our area. I close with a simple point, one of the most important that my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset made. I would love the Minister to give us a firm and detailed reply. It is about proximity to the shore. Enecos preferred site is 7 nautical miles from the coast, but the Department of Energy and Climate Change offshore energy assessment 2 says that new offshore wind farm generation capacity should be sited away from the coast, generally outside 12 nautical miles. The same report goes on to acknowledge that The environmental sensitivity of coastal areas is not uniform, and in certain cases new offshore wind farm projects may be acceptable. In certain casesI find it inconceivable that anyone could judge that an exception could be made for the case under discussion. My hon. Friend talked about the beauty of the Jurassic coastline and I have dwelt on the beauty of our area, which attracts so much tourism. The project may be some way off, but our constituentsmine and others across the conurbationwill not forgive us if we do not highlight today the impact that it could have. If it damages our area, our constituents would rightly not forgive those of us sent to this place to stand up for the interests of the areas that we serve.

Conor in the papers:

Bournemouth Echo 13th September 2011

Local MPs call for wind Farm re-think

Last week, local MPs Conor Burns (Bournemouth West) and Robert Syms (Poole) met with Energy Secretary Chris Huhne MP to call for a re-think over the off-shore wind farm proposed for the Dorset coast. Under current proposals, between 150 and 360 turbines would be placed around 10 miles off the Bournemouth coast. However, the plans have caused uproar in towns along the Jurassic Coast. Raising the issue in the chamber prior to the Parliamentary recess, Conor challenged the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change over the proposals, and spoke of residents concerns over the sheer size of the project which is estimated to cover some 76 square miles of unspoilt coastline. At a follow-up meeting held yesterday at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the local MPs set out their concerns in detail, and challenged the Secretary to help find a compromise that will have a lower impact on Dorset residents. The Secretary of State was very receptive to the concerns raised, and gave assurances that he would continue to monitor the development closely. More importantly, he did not rule out weighing in to the discussion if he felt that the concerns of local residents were not suitably taken into account by developers. Commenting, Conor said: It is imperative that Eneco listen to the concerns regarding the development and respond accordingly. My key reservation about the proposal is the visual impact that it will have on one of the most spectacular stretches of coast in the UK. Not only are these turbines going to impose themselves on the Dorset coastline by day, but the warning lights will emit a bright glow over the horizon at night. The proposed site is only 10.4 miles from the shore and these turbines will be a permanent scar on the sea view. The site available for the wind farm is vast, and I am yet to hear a convincing reason as to why they cannot be placed farther away from the Dorset coast.

Conor in the papers:

Calls for Navitus Bay wind farm to be moved further offshore

Stephen Bailey, Bournemouth Echo 3rd April 2012 An MP is urging people to sign a petition calling for the Poole Bay windfarm plan to be scrapped in its current form. Conor Burns backs a motion calling for the turbines to be invisible from the shore in case they damage tourism. He told the Daily Echo: I had a meeting with Eneco, the company doing the work, and I am putting them under enormous pressure to show us some visuals of how they will look. Basically as long as you cant see it, we dont mind. If they move it as close to the shore as they can, and build them as high as they can, they will have a problem with us. Tourism is the biggest employer in Bournemouth and anything that harms it I would be against. I want people to sign because my big fear is that people arent aware of whats happening, and this will creep up on us and people will say: What did you do about it? Eneco plans to build 150 to 240 turbines in Poole Bay, around 10 miles from Bournemouth and Poole, and eight miles from Swanage and Christchurch. Mark Smith, Bournemouths head of tourism, has said research suggests the scheme could cost Dorset 500 of the 18,000 jobs in its tourism sector. The scheme is still at the consultation stage and the final plans will need planning permission from the government. The revised national planning policy, announced last week, gives councils more control over onshore windfarms. However the decisions of off-shore windfarms, which are built on Crown Estates land, are still in the hands of ministers. Mr Burns, for Bournemouth West, said Bournemouth should have some democratic input and has arranged a meeting with ministers Greg Clark and Ed Davey to press his case. He said: We need to diversify our energy supply for all kinds of reasons. But there are lots of places you can out this without it being to the detriment of people.

Three ways to contact Conor Burns MP:

By Phone: 020 7219 7021 By email: conor.burns.mp@parliament.uk By post: Conor Burns MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA

www.conorburns.com

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Promoted by Andrew Morgan on behalf of Conor Burns, both of 135 Hankinson Road, Bournemouth, BH9 1HR