Tidal energy production on the Isle of Wight is one step closer to becoming a reality thanks to a partial green light.
Officers have recommended the Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre (PTEC) substation, control room and cable installation be approved — with 26 conditions and 3 suggestions — at Flowers Brook, Steephill Road in Ventnor.
Permission had been granted in 2015 but due to funding challenges, it lapsed and permission for homes and holiday lodges has been given instead.
Moving to a different part of the site, next to the pumping station and on Southern Water land, PTEC is once again trying to get the operation up and running with the onshore facilities the last step before it generates tidal energy.
If it were to be approved by the committee, PTEC said it plans to start construction in 2023 and be operational by 2025. The application will be heard at the Isle of Wight Council’s planning committee next Tuesday (14th December).
It is estimated PTEC could provide clean energy for up to 15,700 homes, just over 20% of the Island’s housing. However, 79 people have raised concerns and objections with the council, including Ventnor Town Council, who said there would be a loss of visual and recreational amenity, the proximity to houses, noise levels and disturbance of wildlife.
Officers say mitigating factors like a £19,800 biodiversity contribution, habitat reinstatement plan, replanting scheme and ways of masking the noise levels would help. There is also the potential for medieval deposits and features, including human burials, still present, so a staged programme of archaeological work has been recommended.
Officers say on balance the economic, environmental and social benefits of the proposed development would outweigh any temporary adverse impacts.
An issue remains with Red Squirrel Ltd, which owns the land the entrance to the site is on and has refused PTEC rights of access or to carry out work on their land while they still own it.
Planning officers have suggested applying a condition that prevents the start of development until works to the entrance have been completed but they recognise the likelihood of such an agreement to be ‘extremely remote’.
The Isle of Wight Council does have a minority financial interest in PTEC and the planning committee is required to determine the application to ensure the decision is made in an open and transparent manner.
Yet more ruination of a once beautiful entrance to Ventnor from the west.
Clearly you don’t give a &^%$ about the future for the younger generation. We must divorce ourselves from the finite resource of oil. If we do not will be none left for what we really need it for.
The one saving grace of preserving this area is “Red Squirrel Ltd, which owns the land the entrance to the site is on and has refused PTEC rights of access or to carry out work on their land”
Go for it. Tidal energy is one of the most obvious ways to go. I’m all for preserving the Islands natural beauty but some things we will have to accept.
Here we go…
Must not have any nasty horrible building on this Island, no new developments…
However, we must use greener sources of energy to save the Planet.
Surely tidal power is far more reliable than wind of solar? The tide goes in and out all of the time, but, oh dear, can’t have any new development building?!