Manx Utilities Authority is to hold eight public meetings on the proposals for the island’s first onshore windfarm at Earystane Plantation.
The public sessions will be held across the island from October 19 to 27.
Senior officers from MU and consultants Wardell Armstrong will be on hand to talk with and hear the views of locals about the Cair Vie Windfarm project.
It will provide opportunity to discuss the technical, environmental and economic aspects of the scheme.
The consultations will also have a virtual reality experience where members of the public will be able to see what the turbines might look like from key vantage points in the south of the island.
Earystane Windfarm
The proposed windfarm design, at Earystane plantation, would consist of between three and four turbines which could generate more than a quarter of the Island’s annual electricity needs.
Chief Executive, Phil King, says it’s imperative everyone with an interest in the project gets to have their say.
The planning application, which is due to be submitted in early 2025, will be based on all of the information that Manx Utilities has gathered to date.
MU says that feedback from these consultation events will also help to shape the proposals which will be taken forward to the planning application stage.
The community consultation events will be held on:
- Saturday, October 19: Morton Hall, Castletown, 12noon-4pm
- Sunday, October 20: Douglas City Hall, 12noon-4pm
- Monday, October 21: Peel Centenary Centre, 2-7pm
- Tuesday, October 22: Douglas City Hall, 2-7pm
- Wednesday, October 23: Morton Hall, Castletown, 2-7pm
- Friday, October 25: Ramsey Courthouse, 2-7pm
- Saturday, October 26: Peel Centenary Centre, 12noon-4pm
- Sunday, October 27: Ramsey Courthouse, 12noon-4pm.
MU has selected the Earystane site “as it offers the best opportunity” to harness the wind resource that the island has.
The energy provider says it could be used to service more than a quarter of the island’s electricity needs.
A full ecology timetable can be viewed on Manx Utilities’ website.
Controversy
The wind farm has come under scrutiny from locals in the area, as well as a chartered engineer and climate scientist.
Paul Burgess has claimed the MUA has miscalculated its figures for wind farm generation by up to 300%.
He says that the Isle of Man is claiming they have a load factor which is way out of sync with the experience in neighbouring jurisdictions.
Residents have voiced their concerns over the impact the windfarm would have over property values in the area as well as the impact on local wildlife.
There has also been great debate as to whether the land that is to be used for the farm is that of heathland, which is generally protected land on the Isle of Man.
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