WIND farm developer Navitus Bay has confirmed that it does not plan to challenge the decision to refuse its plans for its proposed scheme for the Hampshire coast.

The Government threw out the plans, which would have seen up to 121 turbines sited 14 miles from Lymington, in September following huge opposition.

On Monday, Stuart Grant, Project Director at Navitus Bay, said: “After careful consideration, Navitus Bay has chosen not to challenge the decision by the Secretary of State to refuse consent for the proposed wind park.

“We would like to thank the communities on the South Coast and all our stakeholders for their engagement throughout the project. We would also like to extend a thank you to the potential suppliers, who worked incredibly hard to inform our proposal.

“Over the course of the project we have gathered data from a wide range of offshore surveys and studies. This wealth of information includes environmental material such as bird and mammal surveys, human activity evaluations including shipping, navigation and archaeological data, and physical environmental detail like geotechnical data and sediment sampling.

“We recognise that this marine data is valuable and can provide a legacy by helping to stimulate research, support academia and contribute towards the sustainable management of the seabed.

“We will therefore be making this data available via The Crown Estate’s Marine Data Exchange once transfer and quality assurance processes have been completed, at marinedataexchange.co.uk.”