With surprisingly little razzamataz, Dutch energy company Eneco announced just over a week ago that it has chosen to build a wind farm between Swanage and The Needles, just a couple of nautical miles south-east of the rhumb line between St Albans and the Needles Fairway.
The announcement follows a year-long investigation by Eneco of a 279 square mile area of seabed awarded to the company by The Crown Estate (the pecked outline on the map) to identify the most suitable place to locate the wind farm.
The RYA has said it is “concerned that the preferred development area as confirmed by Eneco is poorly located from a wider navigational perspective,” and is seeking meetings with Eneco. In an article sent to members on Friday (25.2), the RYA said: “At this stage, Eneco has not produced any detailed plans as to how many turbines are proposed or how they might be laid out within this area.
“We had met with Eneco last May to discuss concerns about the West of Wight Zone, explain the importance of the area for recreational boating and emphasise how busy this area is for both recreational and commercial vessel traffic. We are now in the process of arranging a further meeting in the light of this announcement to re-emphasise these concerns.”
While the RYA accepts that “navigation through any operational windfarm should not create significant additional risks for recreational boaters”, Eneco states on its website that “For safety reasons during the construction phase all vessel traffic will be prohibited from the wind park site.” At present, construction is scheduled to last between 2016 and 2018, during which time (three sailing seasons, possibly), all vessels will presumably be barred from the area outlined on the map. This could pose a substantial problem for yachts beating down Channel from the Solent, or heading from the Weymouth area towards the Western Solent, especially if forced to stand clear of Lulworth Ranges in easterly conditions.
Eneco is holding a series of “Public Information Days” at locations along the coast directly affected by the development. The first is at the Pavilion Theatre Weymouth on Wednesday March 16th. Strangely, Eneco seems to have omitted to tell anyone at what time of day this will be, but by calling the RYA, I discovered it will run from 1400hrs to 2000hrs with “no need to book in advance”. Cruising Members of CCSC should attend if at all possible, both to discover the implications of the development for yachting in the region and to signal our right to be included in the consultation process. Hands up those of you who were aware of the similar “consultation exercise” held back in early November! Hmmm, I thought so...
It is particularly important that we use this opportunity as, so far, Eneco seems rather elusive. When I spoke to Alison Stephens, CCSC Rear Commodore Sailing, on Sunday, she had received no information from them, and neither, to the best of her knowledge, had any other club officers. Attempts to call Eneco’s UK offices on Monday morning (28.2) met with an unanswered phone (on the number in the BT directory) and an invitation to leave a message for a call back (on the number eventually found on their website). I was still waiting for their response at close of business on Monday. According to my contact at the RYA, Eneco’s phones do not appear to work!
Peter Eustace
“Scherzo”
