THE developers of the proposed wind farm near Dorchester have scaled back the size of the development.

Broadview Energy Limited, the developer behind the proposed Slyer’s Lane wind farm project situated to the north of the county town, has announced its preferred project design, resulting in a reduction in the size of the proposals.

The wind farm will now consist of six rather than seven turbines and their height has been reduced from 125m to 115m.

The decision comes after completion of a  programme of consultation with the local community as well as West Dorset District Council, Dorset County Council, English Heritage and Natural England.

The proposal is the result of a combination of the consultation activities to date and the findings of a range of environmental and technical studies which Broadview has been undertaking in and around the site for a number of months.

The proposed six turbine design will be the subject of further consultation before a planning application will be submitted to West Dorset District Council at the end of summer 2014.

The application will be accompanied by a detailed set of environmental studies which will assess the impact of the wind farm on factors such as landscape, residential amenity, noise and heritage assets amongst other topics.

The revised proposals will be on display at public exhibitions in Piddletrenthide, Charminster, Poundbury and Dorchester from May 29-31.

Tom Cosgrove, Development Manager at Broadview Energy, said “We are committed to running an open and transparent development process and involving local stakeholders at every opportunity.

"That is why we have undertaken a wide range of consultation activities to date and we will continue to do so through each stage of the projects life cycle. Where possible we have listened to the views of the local community and incorporated their feedback into our preferred design. In reducing the size and number of the turbines we believe we are now proposing a project that strikes the right balance between maximising the renewable energy benefits whilst being sensitive to the local environment.”

“We now hope that local residents will come to our proposed consultation events where they will be able to talk to members of the Broadview team and find out more about the design process and the next steps for the project as we head towards a planning application.”