Date: 20th April 2004
Released by: ANDREW TURNER

A full-scale mock-up should be constructed and its impact assessed before the planning application for a wind-turbine farm at Wellow is determined, says Island MP Andrew Turner.

He was responding to a request from council planners for advice on what should be required in the Environmental Impact Assessment which has to be submitted alongside major planning applications.

Andrew Turner said,
“The Council has accepted that the scale of this proposal is so great that an Environmental Impact Assessment is essential. It would undoubtably be the most significant development on the Island for a generation. But its impact cannot be properly illustrated merely by computer-generated images – they would be as different from the real thing as Lord of the Rings on a television screen differs from Lord of the Rings in a cinema. The image on a TV screen sits in the corner of the room; in the cinema it overwhelms you!

“A mock-up could easily be constructed by placing mobile cranes on or as near as possible to the site. People need to be able to assess the impact on the view of the Island not only from the Island, but also from mainland locations such as Lymington and the New Forest. The perception that the West Wight could be sacrificed to an industrial landscape could devastate our tourism industry, but we will never be able to predict the perception without seeing the impact on site.”