THERE is overwhelming support for a new offshore wind park project according to new research.

According to figures released by Eneco, the energy company tasked with building a wind farm in the West of Wight area off the Dorset coast, 87 per cent of people quizzed in Weymouth and Portland said they would support the development.

The 76-square-mile wind park area that will hold 240 wind turbines will be located eight miles off Peveril Point, near Swanage.

Eneco won the licence to develop the area and work is expected to begin to build the park in 2016.

The development will be known as the Navitus Bay Wind Park – navitus means energy in Latin – which will provide energy for between 615,000 and 820,000 homes.

As part of the development work, people living along the Dorset coast have been asked their opinions on the park.

People in Weymouth and Portland, Purbeck and West Dorset were questioned and support was shown to be strongest in the borough of Weymouth and Portland.

The most supportive age group was found to be 16 to 34 year olds, with 91 per cent of them supporting the project.

Of the people questioned, 76 per cent said they believed wind power is the best way to generate renewable energy. This figure increased to 87 per cent for Weymouth and Portland.

A total of 78 per cent said they would be happy to live in sight of the development and this increased to 84 per cent for Weymouth and Portland.

When asked if they thought the wind park would be a good investment for the area 73 per cent agreed and this went up to 82 per cent in Weymouth and Portland.

Only 11 per cent of people said they could see no benefits coming from the development whatsoever, this fell to only seven per cent in the borough.

Speaking about the results, Chris Sherrington, Project Director for Navitus Bay Wind Park, said, “We are pleased that there is strong local support for the development and look forward to continuing to consult with the general public throughout the lifetime of Navitus Bay.”

President of Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce Andy Cooke said that the investment was welcome in the borough.

He said: “Any incoming investment in the area is good for business. It will flow around and into the local economy.”

He added: “If they are building the turbines off the Dorset coastline there could potentially be a lot of benefits in building and servicing the turbines and providing the services for the workers that are maintaining the turbines.

“We need to look at alternative forms of energy and it seems a sensible form of energy to me.”