Garff residents' brand Mooir Vannin windfarm 'ridiculous' and 'insanity'

Only three residents in attendance were in favour of the proposal

The majority of people attending a public meeting to discuss proposals for an offshore windfarm off the Island's east coast were against the plans.

It was held last night by Garff Commissioners about the Mooir Vannin Offshore Windfarm proposal by Ørsted.

The local authority was using the meeting to gauge the views of residents before submitting its own response to the consultation and submitting its views on the application.

Ørsted has been working on the project since 2015 and under the current plans could see 87 turbines stretch across the east coast of the Island from Maughold to Onchan.

There were around 100 people in attendance at the meeting but there were no representatives from Ørsted at the meeting to respond to the comments.

The meeting was well attended by residents of Garff, along with local MHKs Daphne Caine and Andrew Smith, representatives from the Cair Vie Resistance group and former politicians.

It was chaired by the Captain of the Parish of Lonan Stephen Carter, who took questions and comments from the floor.

Most of the residents in attendance were against the proposal from Ørsted, saying it would ‘ruin’ the view over the sea, Laxey would no longer be a seaside ‘destination’ as well as worries that Ørsted is in ‘financial difficulty’.

There were also concerns raised about the lack of benefits for residents, including not ‘keeping enough’ of the energy generated by the turbines and a ‘paltry’ community fund of £1 million a year to go towards local projects.

This resident believed it’s ‘insanity’ that the government would consider the plan:

However, three residents in attendance were in support of the proposal.

One resident during the meeting said that due to the nature of the meeting more people against the proposal would be inclined to go – to which Chair of Garff Commissioners Stan Ryzak said the board had received letters both in support and against the windfarm from those who couldn’t attend.

The resident also believed that Ørsted’s ‘financial woes’ are due to the US President Donald Trump pulling the plug on a windfarm off the coast of Rhode Island.

This resident, also in favour of the proposal, said he went to earlier drop-in meetings and was ‘disappointed’ at the turnout:

The owner of the Mountain View Innovation Centre David Dorricott said he has been using solar power for eight years, but believes it has its flaws.

He added that if the proposals went ahead there would be a ‘massive impact’ on the Island but there would be few benefits to locals.

As part of the scheme, Ørsted says it will be ‘exploring opportunities’ to supply the Island with energy and provide a community fund of £1.5 million for 15 years.

It also claims it can deliver ‘lifetime financial benefits’ of up to two billion pounds.

Mr Dorricott says despite the flaws he’s experienced whilst running his business, he believes renewable energy is an important part of the energy production ‘mix’:

Chair of Garff Commissioners Stan Ryzak said he was pleased at the number of people who turned up to share their views about the application.

He added that the local authority’s next steps would be to collect what was said at the meeting and compile a response to the application: