Dorset Council is running a public consultation on a draft ‘Climate & Ecological Emergency Strategy’.

There has been little publicity.

The draft document(s) contain many controversial policy statements and aims.

These include lobbying for the return of the rejected Navitus Bay offshore wind farm project, and a projection of erecting 700 land based turbines and/ or installing nearly 30 square miles of solar panels in Dorset.

It is mooted in the document that planning policy should be eased to enable the industrial deployment of these wind turbines and solar panels.

There is also a projected extra council spend of £100 million to make it a ‘Climate Leader’ by 2040. Methods advocated to finance this extra expenditure include extra council borrowing and a review of council tax.

The documents are available on the Dorset Council website (to find the documents and the on-line response form search on ‘find a consultation’ then when on that page search on ‘climate’. ) The on-line response form allows you to skip sections and either return to them later or leave them blank. If you wish you can save your incomplete responses take a break and come back later via an email link.

The document set, including ‘action plans’ and ‘technical papers’ is huge. Due to its size and scope, a full review by any more than the tiniest minority of the public would be highly unlikely. It invites a lop sided review response led by fanatical advocates. I would suggest that even elected councillors will be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of documentation.

The size of the document set deters review but you do not have to review it all. Highly contentious issues are often briefly described and expressed in very few words. So watch out in case you miss them.

The public consultation is open until January 20. Please have a look.

BILL REES

Ferndown